Model of a fluxtube with a twisted magnetic field in the stratified solar atmosphere

• Published in: Advances in space research Vol. 61; no. 2; pp. 617 - 627
• Main Authors: Sen, S., Mangalam, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 15.01.2018
• Subjects: Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD); Magnetohydrostatics; Sun: magnetic fields; Sun: photosphere; Sun: transition region; Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD); Sun: photosphere; Sun: transition region; Magnetohydrostatics; Sun: magnetic fields
• ISSN: 0273-1177; 1879-1948
• DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2017.05.032

We build a single vertical straight magnetic fluxtube spanning the solar photosphere and the transition region which does not expand with height. We assume that the fluxtube containing twisted magnetic fields is in magnetohydrostatic equilibrium within a realistic stratified atmosphere subject to solar gravity. Incorporating specific forms of current density and gas pressure in the Grad–Shafranov equation, we solve the magnetic flux function, and find it to be separable with a Coulomb wave function in radial direction while the vertical part of the solution decreases exponentially. We employ improved fluxtube boundary conditions and take a realistic ambient external pressure for the photosphere to transition region, to derive a family of solutions for reasonable values of the fluxtube radius and magnetic field strength at the base of the axis that are the free parameters in our model. We find that our model estimates are consistent with the magnetic field strength and the radii of Magnetic bright points (MBPs) as estimated from observations. We also derive thermodynamic quantities inside the fluxtube.