arXiv subjects

D. Kuridze

Publications and source records attributed to D. Kuridze.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Infrared spectropolarimetry of a C-class solar flare footpoint plasma -- I. Spectral features and forward modelling

We performed high-spatial resolution spectropolarimetric observations of active region NOAA 13363 during a C-class flare with the Gregor Infrared Spectrograph (GRIS) on 16 July 2023. We examine the coupling between the photosphere and the chromosphere, studying the polarimetric signals during a period that encompasses the decaying phase of a C-class flare and the appearance of a new C-class flare at the same location. We focus on the analysis of various spectral lines. In particular, we study the Si I 10827 {\AA}, Ca I 10833.4 {\AA}, Na I 10834.9 {\AA}, and Ca I 10838.9 {\AA} photospheric lines, as well as the He I 10830 {\AA} triplet. GRIS data revealed the presence of flare-related red- and blueshifted spectral line components, reaching Doppler velocities up to 90 km/s, and complex Si I profiles where the He i spectral line contribution is blueshifted. In contrast, the photospheric Ca i and Na i transitions remained unchanged, indicating that the flare did not modify the physical conditions of the lower photosphere. We combined that information with simultaneous imaging in the Ca ii H line and TiO band with the improved High-resolution Fast Imager (HiFI+), finding that the flare emission did not affect the inverse granulation or nearby plage, in agreement with the results from GRIS. We also complement the previous studies with a forward modelling computation, concluding that the He I spectral line emission reflects a complex response of the flaring chromosphere. Radiative excitation from coronal EUV irradiation, energy deposition by flare-accelerated electrons, and dynamic field-aligned plasma flows likely act together to produce the observed supersonic downflows and upflows. We plan to expand these findings through inversions of the He I 10830 {\AA} triplet signals in the future.

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arXiv2025

Synthesizing Sun-as-a-star flare spectra from high-resolution solar observations

Spatially resolved observations of the Sun and the astronomical sample size of stellar bodies are the respective key strengths of solar and stellar observations. However, the large difference in object brightness between the Sun and other stars has led to distinctly different instrumentation and methodologies between the two fields. We produce and analyze synthetic full-disk spectra derived from 19 small area field-of-view optical observations of solar flares acquired by the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST) between 2011 and 2024. These are used to investigate what can and cannot be inferred about physical processes on the Sun from Sun-as-a-star observations. The recently released Numerical Empirical Sun-as-a-Star Integrator (NESSI) code provides synthetic full-disk integrated spectral line emission based on smaller field-of-view input, accounting for center-to-limb variations and differential rotation. We use this code to generate pseudo-Sun-as-a-star spectra from the SST observations. ...

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arXiv2025

The striated solar photosphere observed at 0."03, resolution

Striated granular edges observed in the solar photosphere represent one of the smallest-scale phenomena on the Sun. They arise from the interaction of strongly coupled hydrodynamic, magnetic, and radiative properties of the plasma. In particular, modulations in the photospheric magnetic field strength cause variations in density and opacity along the line of sight, leading to their formation. Therefore, the striation patterns can be used as valuable diagnostics for studying the finest-scale structure of the photospheric magnetic field. The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope allows observations of the solar atmosphere with a spatial resolution of better than 0."03 with its current instrumentation. We analyze images acquired with the Visible Broadband Imager using the G-band channel to investigate the characteristics of fine-scale striations in the photosphere and compare them with state-of-the-art radiation-MHD simulations at similar spatial resolution. Both observed and synthetic images reveal photospheric striae with widths of approximately 20$-$50 km, suggesting that at least 4-meter class solar telescopes are necessary to resolve this ultrafine structure. Analysis of the numerical simulations confirms that the striation observed in the filtergrams is associated with spatial variations in photospheric magnetic flux concentrations, which cause shifts in the geometrical height where the emergent intensity forms. Some fine-scale striation in the synthetic images originate from magnetic field variations of approximately a hundred Gauss, resulting in a Wilson depressions as narrow as 10 km. This suggests that DKIST G-band images can trace footprints of magnetic field variations and Wilson depressions at a similar scale.

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arXiv2024

Can the solar atmosphere generate very high energy cosmic rays?

The origin and acceleration of high-energy particles in space (cosmic rays), constitute important topics in modern astrophysics. Among the The origin and acceleration of high-energy particles, constituting cosmic rays, is likely to remain an important topic in modern astrophysics. Among the two categories - galactic and solar cosmic rays - the latter are much less investigated. Primary source of solar cosmic ray particles are impulsive explosions of the magnetized plasma known as solar flares and coronal mass ejections. These particles, however, are characterized by relatively low energies compared to their galactic counterparts. In this work, we explore resonance wave-wave (RWW) interaction between the polarized electromagnetic radiation emitted by the solar active regions, and the quantum waves associated with high-energy, relativistic electrons generated during solar flares. Mathematically, the RWW interaction problem boils down to analyzing a Klein-Gordon equation (spin less electrons) embedded in the electromagnetic field. We find that RWW could accelerate the relativistic electrons to enormous energies even comparable to energies in the galactic cosmic rays.

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arXiv2024

Insight into the solar plage chromosphere with DKIST

The strongly coupled hydrodynamic, magnetic, and radiation properties of the plasma in the solar chromosphere makes it a region of the Sun's atmosphere that is poorly understood. We use data obtained with the high-resolution Visible Broadband Imager (VBI) equipped with an H$\beta$ filter and the Visible Spectro-Polarimeter (ViSP) at the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope to investigate the fine-scale structure of the plage chromosphere. To aid the interpretation of the VBI imaging data, we also analyze spectra from the CHROMospheric Imaging Spectrometer on the Swedish Solar Telescope. The analysis of spectral properties, such as enhanced line widths and line depths explains the high contrast of the fibrils relative to the background atmosphere demonstrating that H$\beta$ is an excellent diagnostic for the enigmatic fine-scale structure of the chromosphere. A correlation between the parameters of the H$\beta$ line indicates that opacity broadening created by overdense fibrils could be the main reason for the spectral line broadening observed frequently in chromospheric fine-scale structures. Spectropolarimetric inversions of the ViSP data in the Ca II 8542 {\AA} and Fe I 6301/6302 {\AA} lines are used to construct semiempirical models of the plage atmosphere. Inversion outputs indicate the existence of dense fibrils in the Ca II 8542 {\AA} line. The analyses of the ViSP data show that the morphological characteristics, such as orientation, inclination and length of fibrils are defined by the topology of the magnetic field in the photosphere. Chromospheric maps reveal a prominent magnetic canopy in the area where fibrils are directed towards the observer.

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arXiv2023

Temperature diagnostics of chromospheric fibrils

Context. Chromospheric fibrils are thin and elongated structures that connect nearby photospheric magnetic field concentrations of opposite polarities. Aims. We assess the possibilities and drawbacks related to the use of current instrumentation and inversion techniques to infer the thermodynamic structure of chromospheric fibrils. Methods. We employed spectroscopic observations obtained in the Ca ii 854.2 nm line with the CRISP instrument at the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope and in coordination with observations in the ultraviolet Mg ii h & k lines taken with the IRIS satellite. We studied the temperature sensitivity of these chromospheric lines to properly invert their spectral profiles with the Stockholm inversion Code and determine the temperature, line-of-sight velocity, and microturbulent velocity of manually traced chromospheric fibrils present in the field of view. Results. Fibril-like structures show a very particular dependence of their temperature as a function of the position along their length. Their temperatures at the detected footpoints are, on average, 300 K higher than the temperature at the midpoint. The temperature variation appears to be almost symmetrical in shape, with partially traced fibrils showing a similar trend for the temperature variation. Additionally, the response of the Ca ii 854.2 nm line core to variations of the temperature for the inverted models of the atmosphere in fibril areas seems to be insufficient to properly resolve the aforementioned temperature structure. Only the addition of more temperature sensitive lines such as the Mg ii h & k lines would make it possible to properly infer the thermodynamic properties of chromospheric fibrils. Comparisons between the results obtained here and in previous studies focused on bright Ca ii K fibrils yield great similarities between these structures in terms of their temperature.

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arXiv2022

Dark off-limb gap: manifestation of temperature minimum and dynamic nature of the chromosphere

We study off-limb emission of the lower solar atmosphere using high-resolution imaging spectroscopy in the H$β$ and Ca II 8542 Å lines obtained with the CHROMospheric Imaging Spectrometer (CHROMIS) and the CRisp Imaging SpectroPolarimeter (CRISP) on the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope. The H$β$ line wing images show the dark intensity gap between the photospheric limb and chromosphere which is absent in the Ca II images. We calculate synthetic spectra of the off-limb emissions with the RH code in the one-dimension spherical geometry and find good agreement with the observations. The analysis of synthetic line profiles shows that the gap in the H$β$ line wing images maps the temperature minimum region between the photosphere and chromosphere due to the well known opacity and emissivity gap of Balmer lines in this layer. However, observed gap is detected farther from the line core in the outer line wing positions than in the synthetic profiles. We found that an increased microturbulence in the model chromosphere is needed to reproduce the dark gap in the outer line wing, suggesting that observed H$β$ gap is the manifestation of the temperature minimum and the dynamic nature of the solar chromosphere. The temperature minimum produces a small enhancement in synthetic Ca II line-wing intensities. Observed off-limb Ca II line-wing emissions show similar enhancement below temperature minimum layer near the edge of the photospheric limb.

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arXiv2021

Magnetic field inference in active region coronal loops using coronal rain clumps

Aims. We aim to infer information about the magnetic field in the low solar corona from coronal rain clumps using high-resolution spectropolarimetric observations in the Ca ii 8542 A line obtained with the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope. Methods. The weak-field approximation (WFA) provides a simple tool to obtain the line-of-sight component of the magnetic field from spectropolarimetric observations. We adapted a method developed in a previous paper in order to assess the different conditions that must be satisfied in order to properly use the WFA for the data at hand. We also made use of velocity measurements in order to estimate the plane-of-the-sky magnetic field component, so that the magnetic field vector could be inferred. Results. We have inferred the magnetic field vector from a data set totalling 100 spectral scans in the Ca ii 8542 A line, containing an off-limb view of the lower portion of catastrophically cooled coronal loops in an active region. Our results, albeit limited by the cadence and signal-to-noise ratio of the data, suggest that magnetic field strengths of hundreds of Gauss, even reaching up to 1000 G, are omnipresent at coronal heights below 9 Mm from the visible limb. Our results are also compatible with the presence of larger magnetic field values such as those reported by previous works. However, for large magnetic fields, the Doppler width from coronal rain is not that much larger than the Zeeman width, thwarting the application of the WFA. Furthermore, we have determined the temperature, T , and microturbulent velocity, $ξ$, of coronal rain clumps and off-limb spicules present in the same data set, and we have found that the former ones have narrower T and $ξ$ distributions, their average temperature is similar, and coronal rain has microturbulent velocities smaller than those of spicules

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arXiv2020

Semi-empirical models of spicule from inversion of Ca II 8542 Å line

We study a solar spicule observed off-limb using high-resolution imaging spectroscopy in the Ca II 8542 Å line obtained with the CRisp Imaging SpectroPolarimeter (CRISP) on the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope. Using a new version of the non-LTE code NICOLE specifically developed for this problem we invert the spicule single- and double-peak line profiles. This new version considers off-limb geometry and computes atomic populations by solving the 1D radiative transfer assuming a vertical stratification. The inversion proceeds by fitting the observed spectral profiles at 14 different heights with synthetic profiles computed in the model by solving the radiative transfer problem along its length. Motivated by the appearance of double-peak Ca II 8542 Å spicule profiles, which exhibit two distinct emission features well separated in wavelength, we adopt a double-component scenario. We start from the ansatz that the spicule parameters are practically constant along the spicule axis for each component, except for a density drop. Our results support this ansatz by attaining very good fits to the entire set of 14$\times$4 profiles (14 heights and 4 times). We show that the double-component model with uniform temperature of 9560 K, exponential decrease of density with a height scale of $1000-2000$ km, and the counter-oriented line-of-sight velocities of components reproduce the double-peak line profiles at all spicule segments well. Analyses of the numerical response function reveals the necessity of the inversions of spectra at multiple height positions to obtain height-dependent, degeneracy-free reliable model with a limited number of free parameters.

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arXiv2020

Ubiquitous hundred-Gauss magnetic fields in solar spicules

Aims. We use high-resolution spectropolarimetric observations in the Ca ii 8542 A line obtained with the SST to study the magnetic field in solar spicules. Methods. The equations that result from the application of the Weak Field Approximation (WFA) to the radiative transfer equations are used to infer the LOS component of the magnetic field (BLOS). Two restrictive conditions are imposed on the Stokes I and V profiles at each pixel before they can be used in a Bayesian inversion to compute its BLOS. Results. The LOS magnetic field component has been inferred in six data sets totalling 448 spectral scans in the Ca ii 8542 A line and containing both active region and quiet Sun areas, with values of hundreds of G being abundantly inferred. There seems to be no difference, from the statistical point of view, between the magnetic field strength of spicules in the quiet Sun or near an active region. On the other hand, the BLOS distributions present smaller values on the disk than off-limb, a fact that can be explained by the effect of superposition on the chromosphere of on-disk structures. We find that spicules in the vicinity of a sunspot have a magnetic field polarity (i.e. north or south) equal to that of the sunspot. This paper also contains an analysis of the effect of off-limb overlapping structures on the observed Stokes I and V parameters and the BLOS obtained from the WFA. It is found that this value is equal to or smaller than the largest LOS magnetic field components of the two structures. In addition, using random BLOS, Doppler velocities and line intensities of these two structures leads in ~ 50% of the cases to Stokes I and V parameters unsuitable to be used with the WFA. Conclusions. Our results present a scarcity of LOS magnetic field components smaller than some 50 G, which must not be taken as evidence against the existence of these magnetic field strengths in spicules.

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arXiv2020

Spectral Characteristics and Formation Height of Off-Limb Flare Ribbons

Flare ribbons are bright manifestations of flare energy dissipation in the lower solar atmosphere. For the first time, we report on high-resolution imaging spectroscopy observations of flare ribbons situated off-limb in the H$β$ and Ca II 8542 Å lines and make a detailed comparison with radiative hydrodynamic simulations. Observations of the X8.2-class solar flare SOL2017-09-10T16:06 UT obtained with the Swedish Solar Telescope reveal bright horizontal emission layers in H$β$ line wing images located near the footpoints of the flare loops. The apparent separation between the ribbon observed in the H$β$ wing and the nominal photospheric limb is about 300 - 500 km. The Ca II 8542 Å line wing images show much fainter ribbon emissions located right on the edge of the limb, without clear separation from the limb. RADYN models are used to investigate synthetic spectral line profiles for the flaring atmosphere, and good agreement is found with the observations. The simulations show that, towards the limb, where the line of sight is substantially oblique with respect to the vertical direction, the flaring atmosphere model reproduces the high contrast of the off-limb H$β$ ribbons and their significant elevation above the photosphere. The ribbons in the Ca II 8542 Å line wing images are located deeper in the lower solar atmosphere with a lower contrast. A comparison of the height deposition of electron beam energy and the intensity contribution function shows that the H$β$ line wing intensities can be an useful tracer of flare energy deposition in the lower solar atmosphere

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arXiv2019

Mapping the magnetic field of flare coronal loops

Here we report on the unique observation of flaring coronal loops at the solar limb using high resolution imaging spectropolarimetry from the Swedish 1-meter Solar Telescope. The vantage position, orientation and nature of the chromospheric material that filled the flare loops allowed us to determine their magnetic field with unprecedented accuracy using the weak-field approximation method. Our analysis reveals coronal magnetic field strengths as high as 350 Gauss at heights up to 25 Mm above the solar limb. These measurements are substantially higher than a number of previous estimates and may have considerable implications for our current understanding of the extended solar atmosphere.

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arXiv2018

Spectropolarimetric inversions of the Ca ii 8542 Å line in a M-class solar flare

We study the M1.9 class solar flare SOL2015-09-27T10:40 UT using high-resolution full-Stokes imaging spectropolarimetry of the Ca ii 8542 Å line obtained with the CRISP imaging spectropolarimeter at the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope. Spectropolarimetric inversions using the non-LTE code NICOLE are used to construct semi-empirical models of the flaring atmosphere to investigate the structure and evolution of the flare temperature and magnetic field. A comparison of the temperature stratification in flaring and non-flaring areas reveals strong heating of the flare ribbon during the flare peak. The polarization signals of the ribbon in the chromosphere during the flare maximum become stronger when compared to its surroundings and to pre- and post- flare profiles. Furthermore, a comparison of the response functions to perturbations in the line-of-sight magnetic field and temperature in flaring and non-flaring atmospheres shows that during the flare the Ca ii 8542 Å line is more sensitive to the lower atmosphere where the magnetic field is expected to be stronger. The chromospheric magnetic field was also determined with the weak-field approximation which led to results similar to those obtained with the NICOLE inversions.

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arXiv2017

Spectroscopic inversions of the Ca ii 8542 Å line in a C-class solar flare

We study the C8.4 class solar flare SOL2016-05-14T11:34 UT using high-resolution spectral imaging in the Ca ii 8542 Å line obtained with the CRISP imaging spectropolarimeter on the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope. Spectroscopic inversions of the Ca ii 8542 Å line using the non-LTE code NICOLE are used to investigate the evolution of the temperature and velocity structure in the flare chromosphere. A comparison of the temperature stratification in flaring and non-flaring areas reveals strong footpoint heating during the flare peak in the lower atmosphere. The temperature of the flaring footpoints between continuum optical depth at 500~nm, $\mathrm{log~τ_{500}~\approx -2.5~and~ -3.5}$ is $\mathrm{\sim5-6.5~kK}$, close to the flare peak, reducing gradually to $\mathrm{\sim5~kK}$. The temperature in the middle and upper chromosphere, between $\mathrm{log~τ_{500} \approx - 3.5~and~- 5.5}$, is estimated to be $\mathrm{\sim6.5 - 20~kK}$, decreasing to pre-flare temperatures, $\mathrm{\sim5 - 10~kK}$, after approximately 15 minutes. However, the temperature stratification of the non-flaring areas is unchanged. The inverted velocity fields show that the flaring chromosphere is dominated by weak downflowing condensations at the Ca ii 8542 Å formation height.

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arXiv2016

Observations and simulations of the Na I D1 line profiles in an M-class solar flare

We study the temporal evolution of the Na I D1 line profiles in the M3.9 flare SOL2014-06-11T21:03 UT, using high spectral resolution observations obtained with the IBIS instrument on the Dunn Solar Telescope combined with radiative hydrodynamic simulations. Our results show a significant increase in line core and wing intensities during the flare. The analysis of the line profiles from the flare ribbons reveal that the Na I D1 line has a central reversal with excess emission in the blue wing (blue asymmetry). We combine RADYN and RH simulations to synthesise Na I D1 line profiles of the flaring atmosphere and find good agreement with the observations. Heating with a beam of electrons modifies the radiation field in the flaring atmosphere and excites electrons from the ground state $\mathrm{3s~^2S}$ to the first excited state $\mathrm{3p~^2P}$, which in turn modifies relative population of the two states. The change in temperature and the population density of the energy states make the sodium line profile revert from absorption into emission. Analysis of the simulated spectra also reveals that the Na I D1 flare profile asymmetries are produced by the velocity gradients generated %and opacity effects in the lower solar atmosphere.

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arXiv2016

Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in solar chromospheric jets: theory and observation

Using data obtained by the high resolution CRisp Imaging SpectroPolarimeter instrument on the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope, we investigate the dynamics and stability of quiet-Sun chromospheric jets observed at disk center. Small-scale features, such as Rapid Redshifted and Blueshifted Excursions, appearing as high speed jets in the wings of the H$α$ line, are characterized by short lifetimes and rapid fading without any descending behavior. To study the theoretical aspects of their stability without considering their formation mechanism, we model chromospheric jets as twisted magnetic flux tubes moving along their axis, and use the ideal linear incompressible magnetohydrodynamic approximation to derive the governing dispersion equation. Analytical solutions of the dispersion equation indicate that this type of jet is unstable to Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI), with a very short (few seconds) instability growth time at high upflow speeds. The generated vortices and unresolved turbulent flows associated with the KHI could be observed as broadening of chromospheric spectral lines. Analysis of the H$α$ line profiles shows that the detected structures have enhanced line widths with respect to the background. We also investigate the stability of a larger scale H$α$ jet that was ejected along the line-of-sight. Vortex-like features, rapidly developing around the jet's boundary, are considered as evidence of the KHI. The analysis of the energy equation in the partially ionized plasma shows that the ion-neutral collisions may lead to the fast heating of the KH vortices over timescales comparable to the lifetime of chromospheric jets.

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arXiv2016

Quiet Sun Hα Transients and Corresponding Small-Scale Transition Region and Coronal Heating

Rapid Blue- and Red-shifted Excursions (RBEs and RREs) are likely to be the on-disk counterparts of Type II spicules. Recently, heating signatures from RBEs/RREs have been detected in IRIS slit-jaw images dominated by transition-region lines around network patches. Additionally, signatures of Type II spicules have been observed in AIA diagnostics. The full-disk, ever-present nature of the AIA diagnostics should provide us with sufficient statistics to directly determine how important RBEs and RREs are to the heating of the transition region and corona. We find, with high statistical significance, that at least 11% of the low-coronal brightenings detected in a quiet-Sun region in 304, can be attributed to either RBEs or RREs as observed in Hα, and a 6% match of 171 detected events to RBEs or RREs with very similar statistics for both types of Hα features. We took a statistical approach that allows for noisy detections in the coronal channels and provides us with a lower, but statistical significant, bound. Further, we consider matches based on overlapping features in both time and space, and find strong visual indications of further correspondence between coronal events and co-evolving but non-overlapping, RBEs and RREs.

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arXiv2016

High--cadence observations of spicular-type events on the Sun

Chromospheric observations taken at high cadence and high spatial resolution show a range of spicule like features, including Type I, Type II (as well as RBEs and RREs) and those which seem to appear within a few seconds, which if interpreted as flows would imply mass flow velocities in excess of 1000 km/s. This article seeks to quantify and study rapidly appearing spicular type events. We also compare the MOMFBD and speckle reconstruction techniques in order to understand if such spicules are more favourably observed using a particular technique. We use spectral imaging observations taken with the CRISP on the Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope. Data was sampled at multiple positions within the Halpha line profile for both an ondisk and limb location. The data is host to numerous rapidly appearing features which are observed at different locations within the Halpha line profile. The feature's durations vary between 10 and 20 s and lengths around 3500 km. Sometimes, a time delay in their appearance between the blue and red wings of 3 and 5 s is evident, whereas sometimes they are near simultaneous. In some instances features are observed to fade and then re emerge at the same location several tens of seconds later. We provide the first statistical analysis of these spicules and suggest that these observations can be interpreted as the LOS movement of highly dynamic spicules moving in and out of the narrow 60 mA transmission filter used to observe in different parts of the Halpha line profile. The LOS velocity component of the observed fast chromospheric features, manifested as Doppler shifts, are responsible for their appearance in the red and blue wings of Halpha line. Additional work involving data at other wavelengths is required to investigate the nature of their possible wavelike activity.

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