NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF IMPULSIVELY GENERATED ALFVEN´ WAVES IN SOLAR MAGNETIC ARCADES

Abstract

We perform numerical simulations of impulsively generated Alfvén waves in an isolated solar arcade, which is gravitationally stratified and magnetically confined. We study numerically the propagation of Alfvén waves along the magnetic structure that extends from the lower chromosphere, where the waves are generated, to the solar corona, and analyze the influence of the arcade size and the width of the initial pulses on the wave propagation and reflection. Our model of the solar atmosphere is constructed by adopting the temperature distribution based on the semi-empirical VAL-C model and specifying the curved magnetic field lines that constitute the asymmetric magnetic arcade. The propagation and reflection of Alfvén waves in this arcade is described by 2.5-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic equations that are numerically solved by the FLASH code. Our numerical simulations reveal that the Alfvén wave amplitude decreases as a result of a partial reflection of Alfvén waves in the solar transition region, and that the waves that are not reflected leak through the transition region and reach the solar corona. We also find the decrement of the attenuation time of Alfvén waves for wider initial pulses. Moreover, our results show that the propagation of Alfvén waves in the arcade is affected by the spatial dependence of the Alfvén speed, which leads to phase mixing that is stronger for more curved and larger magnetic arcades. We discuss the processes that affect the Alfvén wave propagation in an asymmetric solar arcade and conclude that besides phase mixing in the magnetic field configuration, the plasma properties of the arcade, the size of the initial pulse, and the structure of the solar transition region all play a vital role in the Alfvén wave propagation.