Dynamics of the Solar Magnetic Network: Two-dimensional MHD Simulations

Abstract

The aim of this work is to identify the physical processes that occur in the network and contribute to its dynamics and heating. We model the network as consisting of individual flux tubes with a non-potential field structure that are located in intergranular lanes. With a typical horizontal size of 200 km at the base of the photosphere, they expand upward and merge with their neighbors at a height of about 600 km. Above a height of approximately 1000 km the magnetic field starts to become uniform. Waves are generated in this medium by means of motions at the lower boundary. We focus on transverse driving, which generates both fast and slow waves within a flux tube and acoustic waves at the interface of the tube and the field-free medium. The acoustic waves at the interface are due to compression of the gas on one side of the flux tube and expansion on the other. These waves travel upward along the two sides of the (2D) flux tube and enter it, where they become longitudinal waves. For impulsive excitation with a time constant of 120 s, we find that a dominant feature is the creation of vortical motions that propagate upward. We have identified an efficient mechanism for the generation of longitudinal waves and shock formation in the chromospheric part of the flux concentration. We examine some broad implications of our results.