Turbulent Suppression of Alfvénic Wave Resonances in Coronal Loops

Alfvénic wave turbulence is a leading mechanism for explaining the heating of the solar corona and the acceleration of the solar wind. Alfvénic waves are observed to be prevalent throughout the inner corona. An intriguing aspect of the observed waves is that active-region loops show decayless standi...

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Main Authors: Edris Tajfirouze, Richard Morton, Mahboubeh Asgari-Targhi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:The Astrophysical Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb48b
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author Edris Tajfirouze
Richard Morton
Mahboubeh Asgari-Targhi
author_facet Edris Tajfirouze
Richard Morton
Mahboubeh Asgari-Targhi
author_sort Edris Tajfirouze
collection DOAJ
description Alfvénic wave turbulence is a leading mechanism for explaining the heating of the solar corona and the acceleration of the solar wind. Alfvénic waves are observed to be prevalent throughout the inner corona. An intriguing aspect of the observed waves is that active-region loops show decayless standing Alfvénic oscillations, while quiet-Sun loops show only propagating Alfvénic waves. Given the weaker rates of resonant damping found in the quiet Sun (compared to those estimated from decaying oscillations of active-region loops), the reason for the lack of observed standing oscillations is unclear. We suggest that this may be due to the presence of efficient (or strong) Alfvénic wave turbulence in the quiet Sun, which limits the ability of waves to form resonant oscillations in the coronal cavity. To test this idea, we model the coronal velocity fluctuations using a previously developed 3D reduced magnetohydrodynamic model. In this model, we implement a semi-realistic profile for atmospheric plasma conditions along the magnetic field and a homogeneous plasma perpendicular to the magnetic field. Results are presented for different models of the background atmosphere that effectively have different levels of coronal turbulence. For the Alfvénic waves in the simulation, we see that resonant modes are present when the coronal turbulence is in a weak regime. However, decreasing the nonlinear timescale leads to a faster development of turbulence. This can suppress the presence of standing modes when the nonlinear timescale is comparable to or shorter than the Alfvén travel time.
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spelling doaj-art-26ae3b5095e24042bfa408f357ff2e832025-08-20T03:42:43ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-0198227610.3847/1538-4357/adb48bTurbulent Suppression of Alfvénic Wave Resonances in Coronal LoopsEdris Tajfirouze0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3754-7045Richard Morton1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5678-9002Mahboubeh Asgari-Targhi2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0204-8385Department of Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering, Northumbria University , Newcastle upon Tyne, UK ; edris.tajfirouze@northumbria.ac.ukDepartment of Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering, Northumbria University , Newcastle upon Tyne, UK ; edris.tajfirouze@northumbria.ac.ukHarvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USAAlfvénic wave turbulence is a leading mechanism for explaining the heating of the solar corona and the acceleration of the solar wind. Alfvénic waves are observed to be prevalent throughout the inner corona. An intriguing aspect of the observed waves is that active-region loops show decayless standing Alfvénic oscillations, while quiet-Sun loops show only propagating Alfvénic waves. Given the weaker rates of resonant damping found in the quiet Sun (compared to those estimated from decaying oscillations of active-region loops), the reason for the lack of observed standing oscillations is unclear. We suggest that this may be due to the presence of efficient (or strong) Alfvénic wave turbulence in the quiet Sun, which limits the ability of waves to form resonant oscillations in the coronal cavity. To test this idea, we model the coronal velocity fluctuations using a previously developed 3D reduced magnetohydrodynamic model. In this model, we implement a semi-realistic profile for atmospheric plasma conditions along the magnetic field and a homogeneous plasma perpendicular to the magnetic field. Results are presented for different models of the background atmosphere that effectively have different levels of coronal turbulence. For the Alfvénic waves in the simulation, we see that resonant modes are present when the coronal turbulence is in a weak regime. However, decreasing the nonlinear timescale leads to a faster development of turbulence. This can suppress the presence of standing modes when the nonlinear timescale is comparable to or shorter than the Alfvén travel time.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb48bSolar coronal heatingSolar coronal wavesSolar physicsThe SunQuiet solar coronaActive solar corona
spellingShingle Edris Tajfirouze
Richard Morton
Mahboubeh Asgari-Targhi
Turbulent Suppression of Alfvénic Wave Resonances in Coronal Loops
The Astrophysical Journal
Solar coronal heating
Solar coronal waves
Solar physics
The Sun
Quiet solar corona
Active solar corona
title Turbulent Suppression of Alfvénic Wave Resonances in Coronal Loops
title_full Turbulent Suppression of Alfvénic Wave Resonances in Coronal Loops
title_fullStr Turbulent Suppression of Alfvénic Wave Resonances in Coronal Loops
title_full_unstemmed Turbulent Suppression of Alfvénic Wave Resonances in Coronal Loops
title_short Turbulent Suppression of Alfvénic Wave Resonances in Coronal Loops
title_sort turbulent suppression of alfvenic wave resonances in coronal loops
topic Solar coronal heating
Solar coronal waves
Solar physics
The Sun
Quiet solar corona
Active solar corona
url https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adb48b
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AT richardmorton turbulentsuppressionofalfvenicwaveresonancesincoronalloops
AT mahboubehasgaritarghi turbulentsuppressionofalfvenicwaveresonancesincoronalloops