arXiv subjects

J. L. Ballester

Publications and source records attributed to J. L. Ballester.

49 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

Nonlinear Instability of kink oscillations due to shear motions

First results from a high-resolution three-dimensional nonlinear numerical study of the kink oscillation are presented. We show in detail the development of a shear instability in an untwisted line-tied magnetic flux tube. The instability produces significant deformations of the tube boundary. An extended transition layer may naturally evolve as a result of the shear instability at a sharp transition between the flux tube and the external medium. We also discuss the possible effects of the instability on the process of resonant absorption when an inhomogeneous layer is included in the model. One of the implications of these results is that the azimuthal component of the magnetic field of a stable flux tube in the solar corona, needed to prevent the shear instability, is probably constrained to be in a very specific range.

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arXiv2008

Attenuation of small-amplitude oscillations in a prominence-corona model with a transverse magnetic field

Small-amplitude prominence oscillations are usually damped after a few periods. We study the attenuation of non-adiabatic magnetoacoustic waves in a slab prominence embedded in the coronal medium. We assume an equilibrium configuration with a transverse magnetic field to the slab axis and investigate wave damping by thermal conduction and radiative losses. The differential MHD equations that govern linear slow and fast modes are numerically solved to obtain the complex oscillatory frequency and the corresponding eigenfunctions. We find that coronal thermal conduction and radiative losses from the prominence plasma reveal as the most relevant damping mechanisms. Both mechanisms govern together the attenuation of hybrid modes, whereas prominence radiation is responsible for the damping of internal modes and coronal conduction essentially dominates the attenuation of external modes. In addition, the energy transfer between the prominence and the corona caused by thermal conduction has a noticeable effect on the wave stability, radiative losses from the prominence plasma being of paramount importance for the thermal stability of fast modes. We conclude that slow modes are efficiently damped, with damping times compatible with observations. On the contrary, fast modes are less attenuated by non-adiabatic effects and their damping times are several orders of magnitude larger than those observed. The presence of the corona causes a decrease of the damping times with respect to those of an isolated prominence slab, but its effect is still insufficient to obtain damping times of the order of the period in the case of fast modes.

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arXiv2008

Non-adiabatic magnetohydrodynamic waves in a cylindrical prominence thread with mass flow

High-resolution observations show that oscillations and waves in prominence threads are common and that they are attenuated in a few periods. In addition, observers have also reported the presence of material flows in such prominence fine-structures. Here we investigate the time damping of non-leaky oscillations supported by a homogeneous cylindrical prominence thread embedded in an unbounded corona and with a steady mass flow. Thermal conduction and radiative losses are taken into account as damping mechanisms, and the effect of these non-ideal effects and the steady flow on the attenuation of oscillations is assessed. We solve the general dispersion relation for linear, non-adiabatic magnetoacoustic and thermal waves supported by the model, and find that slow and thermal modes are efficiently attenuated by non-adiabatic mechanisms. On the contrary, fast kink modes are much less affected and their damping times are much larger than those observed. The presence of flow has no effect on the damping of slow and thermal waves, whereas fast kink waves are more (less) attenuated when they propagate parallel (anti-parallel) to the flow direction. Although the presence of steady mass flows improves the efficiency of non-adiabatic mechanisms on the attenuation of transverse, kink oscillations for parallel propagation to the flow, its effect is still not enough to obtain damping times compatible with observations.

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arXiv2008

Analytic approximate seismology of transversely oscillating coronal loops

We present an analytic approximate seismic inversion scheme for damped transverse coronal loop oscillations based on the thin tube and thin boundary approximation for computing the period and the damping time. Asymptotic expressions for the period and damping rate are used to illustrate the process of seismological inversion in a simple and easy to follow manner. The inversion procedure is formulated in terms of two simple functions, which are given by simple closed expressions. The analytic seismic inversion shows that an infinite amount of 1-dimensional equilibrium models can reproduce the observed periods and damping times. It predicts a specific range of allowable values for the Alfven travel time and lower bounds for the density contrast and the inhomogeneity length scale. When the results of the present analytic seismic inversion are compared with those of a previous numerical inversion, excellent agreement is found up to the point that the analytic seismic inversion emerges as a tool for validating results of numerical inversions. Actually it helped us to identify and correct inaccuracies in a previous numerical investigation.

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arXiv2008

Transverse oscillations of flowing prominence threads observed with Hinode

Recent observations with the Hinode Solar Optical Telescope display an active region prominence whose fine threads oscillate in the vertical direction as they move along a path parallel to the photosphere. A seismological analysis of this event is carried out by taking advantage of the small radius of these structures compared to the total length of magnetic field lines, i.e. by using the thin tube approximation. This analysis reveals that the oscillatory period is only slightly modified by the existence of the flow and that the difference between the period of a flowing thread and a static one is below the error bars of these observations. Moreover, although it is not possible to obtain values of the physical parameters, a lower bound for the Alfvén speed (ranging between 120 km s$^{-1}$ and 350 km s$^{-1}$) is obtained for each of the threads. Such Alfvén speeds agree with the intense magnetic fields and large densities usually found in active region prominences.

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arXiv2008

Resonant absorption in complicated plasma configurations: applications to multi-stranded coronal loop oscillations

We study the excitation and damping of transverse oscillations in a multi-stranded model of a straight line-tied coronal loop. The transverse geometry of our equilibrium configuration is quite irregular and more realistic than the usual cylindrical loop model. By numerically solving the time-dependent ideal magnetohydrodynamic equations in two dimensions we show how the global motion of the whole bundle of strands, excited by an external disturbance, is converted into localized Alfvénic motions due to the process of resonant absorption. This process produces the attenuation of the transverse oscillations. At any location in the structure two dominant frequencies are found, the frequency of the global mode, or quasi-mode, and the local Alfvén frequency. We find that the mechanism of mode conversion, due to the coupling between fast and Alfvén waves, is not compromised by the complicated geometry of the model. We also show that it is possible to have energy conversion not only at the external edge of the composite loop but also inside the structure. The implications of these results and their relationship with the observations are discussed.

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arXiv2007

Transverse oscillations of two coronal loops

We study transverse fast magnetohydrodynamic waves in a system of two coronal loops modeled as smoothed, dense plasma cylinders in a uniform magnetic field. The collective oscillatory properties of the system due to the interaction between the individual loops are investigated from two points of view. Firstly, the frequency and spatial structure of the normal modes are studied. The system supports four trapped normal modes in which the loops move rigidly in the transverse direction. The direction of the motions is either parallel or perpendicular to the plane containing the axes of the loops. Two of these modes correspond to oscillations of the loops in phase, while in the other two they move in antiphase. Thus, these solutions are the generalization of the kink mode of a single cylinder to the double cylinder case. Secondly, we analyze the time-dependent problem of the excitation of the pair of tubes. We find that depending on the shape and location of the initial disturbance, different normal modes can be excited. The frequencies of normal modes are accurately recovered from the numerical simulations. In some cases, because of the simultaneous excitation of several eigenmodes, the system shows beating and the phase lag between the loops is $π/2$.

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arXiv2007

Oscillatory Modes of a Prominence-PCTR-Corona Slab Model

Oscillations of magnetic structures in the solar corona have often been interpreted in terms of magnetohydrodynamic waves. We study the adiabatic magnetoacoustic modes of a prominence plasma slab with a uniform longitudinal magnetic field, surrounded by a prominence-corona transition region (PCTR) and a coronal medium. Considering linear small-amplitude oscillations, the dispersion relation for the magnetoacoustic slow and fast modes is deduced assuming evanescent-like perturbations in the coronal medium. In the system without PCTR, a classification of the oscillatory modes according to the polarisation of their eigenfunctions is made in order to distinguish modes with fast-like or slow-like properties. Internal and external slow modes are governed by the prominence and coronal properties respectively, and fast modes are mostly dominated by prominence conditions for the observed wavelengths. In addition, the inclusion of an isothermal PCTR does not substantially influence the mode frequencies, but new solutions (PCTR slow modes) are present.

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arXiv2007

The statistical significance of the N-S asymmetry of solar activity revisited

The main aim of this study is to point out the difficulties found when trying to assess the statistical significance of the North-South asymmetry (hereafter SSNSA) of the most usually considered time series of solar activity. First of all, we distinguish between solar activity time series composed by integer or non-integer and dimensionless data, or composed by non-integer and dimensional data. For each of these cases, we discuss the most suitable statistical tests which can be applied and highlight the difficulties to obtain valid information about the statistical significance of solar activity time series. Our results suggest that, apart from the need to apply the suitable statistical tests, other effects such as the data binning, the considered units and the need, in some tests, to consider groups of data, affect substantially the determination of the statistical significance of the asymmetry. Our main conclusion is that the assessment of the statistical significance of the N-S asymmetry of solar activity is a difficult matter and that an absolute answer cannot be given, since many different effects influence the results given by the statistical tests. In summary, the quantitative results about the statistical significance of the N-S asymmetry of solar activity provided by different authors, as well as the studies about its behaviour, must be considered with care because they depend from the chosen values of different parameters or from the considered units.

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arXiv2007

Resonantly damped surface and body MHD waves in a solar coronal slab with oblique propagation

The theory of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves in solar coronal slabs in a zero-$β$ configuration and for parallel propagation of waves does not allow the existence of surface waves. When oblique propagation of perturbations is considered both surface and body waves are able to propagate. When the perpendicular wave number is larger than a certain value, the body kink mode becomes a surface wave. In addition, a sausage surface mode is found below the internal cut-off frequency. When non-uniformity in the equilibrium is included, surface and body modes are damped due to resonant absorption. In this paper, first, a normal-mode analysis is performed and the period, the damping rate, and the spatial structure of eigenfunctions are obtained. Then, the time-dependent problem is solved, and the conditions under which one or the other type of mode is excited are investigated.

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arXiv2007

The effect of the solar corona on the attenuation of small-amplitude prominence oscillations. I. Longitudinal magnetic field

Context. One of the typical features shown by observations of solar prominence oscillations is that they are damped in time and that the values of the damping times are usually between one and three times the corresponding oscillatory period. However, the mechanism responsible for the attenuation is still not well-known. Aims. Thermal conduction, optically thin or thick radiation and heating are taken into account in the energy equation, and their role on the attenuation of prominence oscillations is evaluated. Methods. The dispersion relation for linear non-adiabatic magnetoacoustic waves is derived considering an equilibrium made of a prominence plasma slab embedded in an unbounded corona. The magnetic field is orientated along the direction parallel to the slab axis and has the same strength in all regions. By solving the dispersion relation for a fixed wavenumber, a complex oscillatory frequency is obtained, and the period and the damping time are computed. Results. The effect of conduction and radiation losses is different for each magnetoacoustic mode and depends on the wavenumber. In the observed range of wavelengths the internal slow mode is attenuated by radiation from the prominence plasma, the fast mode by the combination of prominence radiation and coronal conduction and the external slow mode by coronal conduction. The consideration of the external corona is of paramount importance in the case of the fast and external slow modes, whereas it does not affect the internal slow modes at all. Conclusions. Non-adiabatic effects are efficient damping mechanisms for magnetoacoustic modes, and the values of the obtained damping times are compatible with those observed.

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arXiv2007

Rossby waves in "shallow water" magnetohydrodynamics

The influence of a toroidal magnetic field on the dynamics of Rossby waves in a thin layer of ideal conductive fluid on a rotating sphere is studied in the "shallow water" magnetohydrodynamic approximation for the first time. Dispersion relations for magnetic Rossby waves are derived analytically in Cartesian and spherical coordinates. It is shown that the magnetic field causes the splitting of low order (long wavelength) Rossby waves into two different modes, here denoted fast and slow {\em magnetic Rossby waves}. The high frequency mode (the fast magnetic Rossby mode) corresponds to an ordinary hydrodynamic Rossby wave slightly modified by the magnetic field, while the low frequency mode (the slow magnetic Rossby mode) has new and interesting properties since its frequency is significantly smaller than that of the same harmonics of pure Rossby and Alfv{é}n waves.

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arXiv2007

Spectral line width decrease in the solar corona: resonant energy conversion from Alfv{é}n to acoustic waves

Observations reveal an increase with height of the line width of several coronal spectral lines probably caused by outwardly propagating Alfv{é}n waves. However, the spectral line width sometimes shows a sudden decrease at a height 0.1-0.2 R, where the ratio of sound to Alfven speeds may approach unity. Qualitative analysis shows that the resonant energy conversion from Alfven to acoustic waves near the region of the corona where the plasma $β$ approaches unity may explain the observed spectral line width reduction.

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