Seismological constraints on the solar coronal heating function

• Published in: Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin) Vol. 644; p. A33
• Main Authors: Kolotkov, D. Y., Duckenfield, T. J., Nakariakov, V. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg EDP Sciences 01.12.2020
• Subjects: Constraints; Cooling rate; Equilibrium methods; Heating; Magnetoacoustic waves; Plasma; Plasma (physics); Seismology; Solar corona; Solar physics
• ISSN: 0004-6361; 1432-0746
• DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202039095

Aims. The hot solar corona exists because of the balance between radiative and conductive cooling and some counteracting heating mechanism that remains one of the major puzzles in solar physics. Methods. The coronal thermal equilibrium is perturbed by magnetoacoustic waves, which are abundantly present in the corona, causing a misbalance between the heating and cooling rates. As a consequence of this misbalance, the wave experiences a back-reaction, either losing or gaining energy from the energy supply that heats the plasma, at timescales comparable to the wave period. Results. In particular, the plasma can be subject to wave-induced instability or over-stability, depending on the specific choice of the coronal heating function. In the unstable case, the coronal thermal equilibrium would be violently destroyed, which does not allow for the existence of long-lived plasma structures typical for the corona. Based on this, we constrained the coronal heating function using observations of slow magnetoacoustic waves in various coronal plasma structures.