arXiv subjects

M. Velli

Publications and source records attributed to M. Velli.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Coronal Heating Topology: the Interplay of Current Sheets and Magnetic Field Lines

The magnetic topology and field line random walk properties of a nanoflare-heated and magnetically confined corona are investigated in the reduced magnetohydrodynamic regime. Field lines originating from current sheets form coherent structures, called Current Sheet Connected (CSC) regions, extended around them. CSC field line random walk is strongly anisotropic, with preferential diffusion along the current sheets' in-plane length. CSC field line random walk properties remain similar to those of the entire ensemble but exhibit enhanced mean square displacements and separations due to the stronger magnetic field intensities in CSC regions. The implications for particle acceleration and heat transport in the solar corona and wind, and for solar moss formation are discussed.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2016

The "ideal" tearing mode: theory and resistive MHD simulations

Classical MHD reconnection theories, both the stationary Sweet-Parker model and the tearing instability, are known to provide rates which are too slow to explain the observations. However, a recent analysis has shown that there exists a critical threshold on current sheet's thickness, namely a/L~S^(-1/3), beyond which the tearing modes evolve on fast macroscopic Alfvenic timescales, provided the Lunquist number S is high enough, as invariably found in solar and astrophysical plasmas. Therefore, the classical Sweet-Parker scenario, for which the diffusive region scales as a/L~S^(-1/2) and thus can be up to ~100 times thinner than the critical value, is likely to be never realized in nature, as the current sheet itself disrupts in the elongation process. We present here two-dimensional, compressible, resistive MHD simulations, with S ranging from 10^5 to 10^7, that fully confirm the linear analysis. Moreover, we show that a secondary plasmoid instability always occurs when the same critical scaling is reached on the local, smaller scale, leading to a cascading explosive process, reminiscent of the flaring activity.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

Observational Signatures of Coronal Loop Heating and Cooling Driven by Footpoint Shuffling

The evolution of a coronal loop is studied by means of numerical simulations of the fully compressible three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic equations using the HYPERION code. The footpoints of the loop magnetic field are advected by random motions. As a consequence the magnetic field in the loop is energized and develops turbulent nonlinear dynamics characterized by the continuous formation and dissipation of field-aligned current sheets: energy is deposited at small scales where heating occurs. Dissipation is non-uniformly distributed so that only a fraction of the coronal mass and volume gets heated at any time. Temperature and density are highly structured at scales which, in the solar corona, remain observationally unresolved: the plasma of our simulated loop is multi-thermal, where highly dynamical hotter and cooler plasma strands are scattered throughout the loop at sub-observational scales. Numerical simulations of coronal loops of 50000 km length and axial magnetic field intensities ranging from 0.01 to 0.04 Tesla are presented. To connect these simulations to observations we use the computed number densities and temperatures to synthesize the intensities expected in emission lines typically observed with the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on Hinode. These intensities are used to compute differential emission measure distributions using the Monte Carlo Markov Chain code, which are very similar to those derived from observations of solar active regions. We conclude that coronal heating is found to be strongly intermittent in space and time, with only small portions of the coronal loop being heated: in fact, at any given time, most of the corona is cooling down.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2015

Ion kinetic energy conservation and magnetic field strength constancy in multi-fluid solar wind Alfvénic turbulence

We investigate properties of the plasma fluid motion in the large amplitude low frequency fluctuations of highly Alfvénic fast solar wind. We show that protons locally conserve total kinetic energy when observed from an effective frame of reference comoving with the fluctuations. For typical properties of the fast wind, this frame can be reasonably identified by alpha particles, which, owing to their drift with respect to protons at about the Alfvén speed along the magnetic field, do not partake in the fluid low frequency fluctuations. Using their velocity to transform proton velocity into the frame of Alfvénic turbulence, we demonstrate that the resulting plasma motion is characterized by a constant absolute value of the velocity, zero electric fields, and aligned velocity and magnetic field vectors as expected for unidirectional Alfvénic fluctuations in equilibrium. We propose that this constraint, via the correlation between velocity and magnetic field in Alfvénic turbulence, is at the origin of the observed constancy of the magnetic field: while the constant velocity corresponding to constant energy can be only observed in the frame of the fluctuations, the correspondingly constant total magnetic field, invariant for Galilean transformations, remains the observational signature, in the spacecraft frame, of the constant total energy in the Alfvén turbulence frame.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2014

Parametric decay of parallel and oblique Alfven waves in the expanding solar wind

The long-term evolution of large-amplitude Alfven waves propagating in the solar wind is investigated by performing two-dimensional MHD simulations within the expanding box model. The linear and nonlinear phases of the parametric decay instability are studied for both circularly polarized waves in parallel propagation and for arc-polarized waves in oblique propagation. The non-monochromatic case is also considered. In the oblique case, the direct excitation of daughter modes transverse to the local background field is found for the first time in an expanding environment, and this transverse cascade seems to be favored for monochromatic mother waves. The expansion effect reduces the instability growth rate, and it can even suppress its onset for the lowest frequency modes considered here, possibly explaining the persistence of these outgoing waves in the solar wind.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2013

Field lines twisting in a noisy corona: implications for energy storage and release, and initiation of solar eruptions

We present simulations modeling closed regions of the solar corona threaded by a strong magnetic field where localized photospheric vortical motions twist the coronal field lines. The linear and nonlinear dynamics are investigated in the reduced magnetohydrodynamic regime in Cartesian geometry. Initially the magnetic field lines get twisted and the system becomes unstable to the internal kink mode, confirming and extending previous results. As typical in this kind of investigations, where initial conditions implement smooth fields and flux-tubes, we have neglected fluctuations and the fields are laminar until the instability sets in. But previous investigations indicate that fluctuations, excited by photospheric motions and coronal dynamics, are naturally present at all scales in the coronal fields. Thus, in order to understand the effect of a photospheric vortex on a more realistic corona, we continue the simulations after kink instability sets in, when turbulent fluctuations have already developed in the corona. In the nonlinear stage the system never returns to the simple initial state with ordered twisted field lines, and kink instability does not occur again. Nevertheless field lines get twisted, but in a disordered way, and energy accumulates at large scales through an inverse cascade. This energy can subsequently be released in micro-flares or larger flares, when interaction with neighboring structures occurs or via other mechanisms. The impact on coronal dynamics and CMEs initiation is discussed.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2013

Coupling the solar surface and the corona: coronal rotation, Alfvén wave-driven polar plumes

The dynamical response of the solar corona to surface and sub-surface perturbations depends on the chromospheric stratification, and specifically on how efficiently these layers reflect or transmit incoming Alfvén waves. While it would be desirable to include the chromospheric layers in the numerical simulations used to study such phenomena, that is most often not feasible. We defined and tested a simple approximation allowing the study of coronal phenomena while taking into account a parametrised chromospheric reflectivity. We addressed the problems of the transmission of the surface rotation to the corona and that of the generation of polar plumes by Alfvén waves (Pinto et al., 2010, 2011). We found that a high (yet partial) effective chromospheric reflectivity is required to properly describe the angular momentum balance in the corona and the way the surface differential rotation is transmitted upwards. Alfvén wave-driven polar plumes maintain their properties for a wide range of values for the reflectivity, but they become bursty (and eventually disrupt) when the limit of total reflection is attained.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2012

Interchange reconnection in a turbulent Corona

Magnetic reconnection at the interface between coronal holes and loops, so-called interchange reconnection, can release the hotter, denser plasma from magnetically confined regions into the heliosphere, contributing to the formation of the highly variable slow solar wind. The interchange process is often thought to develop at the apex of streamers or pseudo-streamers, near Y and X-type neutral points, but slow streams with loop composition have been recently observed along fanlike open field lines adjacent to closed regions, far from the apex. However, coronal heating models, with magnetic field lines shuffled by convective motions, show that reconnection can occur continuously in unipolar magnetic field regions with no neutral points: photospheric motions induce a magnetohydrodynamic turbulent cascade in the coronal field that creates the necessary small scales, where a sheared magnetic field component orthogonal to the strong axial field is created locally and can reconnect. We propose that a similar mechanism operates near and around boundaries between open and closed regions inducing a continual stochastic rearrangement of connectivity. We examine a reduced magnetohydrodynamic model of a simplified interface region between open and closed corona threaded by a strong unipolar magnetic field. This boundary is not stationary, becomes fractal, and field lines change connectivity continuously, becoming alternatively open and closed. This model suggests that slow wind may originate everywhere along loop-coronal hole boundary regions, and can account naturally and simply for outflows at and adjacent to such boundaries and for the observed diffusion of slow wind around the heliospheric current sheet.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2012

Turbulent Coronal Heating Mechanisms: Coupling of Dynamics and Thermodynamics

Context. Photospheric motions shuffle the footpoints of the strong axial magnetic field that threads coronal loops giving rise to turbulent nonlinear dynamics characterized by the continuous formation and dissipation of field-aligned current sheets where energy is deposited at small-scales and the heating occurs. Previous studies show that current sheets thickness is orders of magnitude smaller than current state of the art observational resolution (~700 km). Aim. In order to understand coronal heating and interpret correctly observations it is crucial to study the thermodynamics of such a system where energy is deposited at unresolved small-scales. Methods. Fully compressible three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations are carried out to understand the thermodynamics of coronal heating in the magnetically confined solar corona. Results. We show that temperature is highly structured at scales below observational resolution and nonhomogeneously distributed so that only a fraction of the coronal mass and volume gets heated at each time. Conclusions. This is a multi-thermal system where hotter and cooler plasma strands are found one next to the other also at sub-resolution scales and exhibit a temporal dynamics.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2012

Reflection and dissipation of Alfvén waves in interstellar clouds

Context: Supersonic nonthermal motions in molecular clouds are often interpreted as long-lived magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves. The propagation and amplitude of these waves is affected by local physical characteristics, most importantly the gas density and the ionization fraction. Aims: We study the propagation, reflection and dissipation of Alfvén waves in molecular clouds deriving the behavior of observable quantities such as the amplitudes of velocity fluctuations and the rate of energy dissipation. Methods: We formulated the problem in terms of Elsässer variables for transverse MHD waves propagating in a one-dimensional inhomogeneous medium, including the dissipation due to collisions between ions and neutrals and to a nonlinear turbulent cascade treated in a phenomenological way. We considered both steady-state and time-dependent situations and solved the equations of the problem numerically with an iterative method and a Lax-Wendroff scheme, respectively. Results: Alfvén waves incident on overdense regions with density profiles typical of cloud cores embedded in a diffuse gas suffer enhanced reflection in the regions of the steepest density gradient, and strong dissipation in the core's interior. These effects are especially significant when the wavelength is intermediate between the critical wavelength for propagation and the typical scale of the density gradient. For larger wave amplitudes and/or steeper input spectra, the effects of the perpendicular turbulent cascade result in a stronger energy dissipation in the regions immediately surrounding the dense core. Conclusions: The results may help to interpret the sharp decrease of line width observed in the environments of low-mass cloud cores in several molecular transitions.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2012

On the origin of the 1/f spectrum in the solar wind magnetic field

We present a mechanism for the formation of the low frequency 1/f magnetic spectrum based on numerical solutions of a shell reduced-MHD model of the turbulent dynamics inside the sub-Alfvénic solar wind. We assign reasonably realistic profiles to the wind speed and the density along the radial direction, and a radial magnetic field. Alfvén waves of short periodicity (600 s) are injected at the base of the chromosphere, penetrate into the corona and are partially reflected, thus triggering a turbulent cascade. The cascade is strong for the reflected wave while it is weak for the outward propagating waves. Reflection at the transition region recycles the strong turbulent spectrum into the outward weak spectrum, which is advected beyond the Alfvénic critical point without substantial evolution. There, the magnetic field has a perpendicular power-law spectrum with slope close to the Kolmogorov -5/3. The parallel spectrum is inherited from the frequency spectrum of large (perpendicular) eddies. The shape is a double power-law with slopes of -1 and -2 at low and high frequencies respectively, the position of the break depending on the injected spectrum. We suggest that the double power-law spectrum measured by Helios at 0.3 AU, where the average magnetic field is not aligned with the radial (contrary to our assumptions) results from the combination of such different spectral slopes. At low frequency the parallel spectrum dominates with its characteristic 1/f shape, while at higher frequencies its steep spectral slope (-2) is masked by the more energetic perpendicular spectrum (slope -5/3).

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2011

A model for magnetically coupled sympathetic eruptions

Sympathetic eruptions on the Sun have been observed for several decades, but the mechanisms by which one eruption can trigger another one remain poorly understood. We present a 3D MHD simulation that suggests two possible magnetic trigger mechanisms for sympathetic eruptions. We consider a configuration that contains two coronal flux ropes located within a pseudo-streamer and one rope located next to it. A sequence of eruptions is initiated by triggering the eruption of the flux rope next to the streamer. The expansion of the rope leads to two consecutive reconnection events, each of which triggers the eruption of a flux rope by removing a sufficient amount of overlying flux. The simulation qualitatively reproduces important aspects of the global sympathetic event on 2010 August 1 and provides a scenario for so-called twin filament eruptions. The suggested mechanisms are applicable also for sympathetic eruptions occurring in other magnetic configurations.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2011

Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulent Cascade of Coronal Loop Magnetic Fields

The Parker model for coronal heating is investigated through a high resolution simulation. An inertial range is resolved where fluctuating magnetic energy E_M (k_perp) \propto k_\perp^{-2.7} exceeds kinetic energy E_K (k_\perp) \propto k_\perp^{-0.6}. Increments scale as δb_\ell \simeq \ell^{-0.85} and δu_\ell \simeq \ell^{+0.2} with velocity increasing at small scales, indicating that magnetic reconnection plays a prime role in this turbulent system. We show that spectral energy transport is akin to standard magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence even for a system of reconnecting current sheets sustained by the boundary. In this new MHD turbulent cascade, kinetic energy flows are negligible while cross-field flows are enhanced, and through a series of "reflections" between the two fields, cascade more than half of the total spectral energy flow.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2010

Shear Photospheric Forcing and the Origin of Turbulence in Coronal Loops

We present a series of numerical simulations aimed at understanding the nature and origin of turbulence in coronal loops in the framework of the Parker model for coronal heating. A coronal loop is studied via reduced magnetohydrodynamics simulations in Cartesian geometry. A uniform and strong magnetic field threads the volume between the two photospheric planes, where a velocity field in the form of a 1D shear flow pattern is present. Initially the magnetic field which developes in the coronal loop is a simple map of the photospheric velocity field. This initial configuration is unstable to a multiple tearing instability which develops islands with X and O points in the plane orthogonal to the axial field. Once the nonlinear stage sets in the system evolution is characterized by a regime of MHD turbulence dominated by magnetic energy. A well developed power law in energy spectra is observed and the magnetic field never returns to the simple initial state mapping the photospheric flow. The formation of X and O points in the planes orthogonal to the axial field allows the continued and repeated formation and dissipation of small scale current sheets where the plasma is heated. We conclude that the observed turbulent dynamics are not induced by the complexity of the pattern that the magnetic field-lines footpoints follow but they rather stem from the inherent nonlinear nature of the system.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2010

Diamagnetic and Expansion Effects on the Observable Properties of the Slow Solar Wind in a Coronal Streamer

The plasma density enhancements recently observed by the Large-Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) instrument onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft have sparked considerable interest. In our previous theoretical study of the formation and initial motion of these density enhancements it is found that beyond the helmet cusp of a coronal streamer the magnetized wake configuration is resistively unstable, that a traveling magnetic island develops at the center of the streamer, and that density enhancements occur within the magnetic islands. As the massive magnetic island travels outward, both its speed and width increase. The island passively traces the acceleration of the inner part of the wake. In the present paper a few spherical geometry effects are included, taking into account either the radial divergence of the magnetic field lines and the average expansion suffered by a parcel of plasma propagating outward, using the Expanding Box Model (EBM), and the diamagnetic force due to the overall magnetic field radial gradients, the so-called melon-seed force. It is found that the values of the acceleration and density contrasts can be in good agreement with LASCO observations, provided the spherical divergence of the magnetic lines starts beyond a critical distance from the Sun and the initial stage of the formation and acceleration of the plasmoid is due to the cartesian evolution of MHD instabilities. This result provides a constraint on the topology of the magnetic field in the coronal streamer.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2010

The Parker Scenario for Coronal Heating as an MHD Turbulence Problem

The Parker or field line tangling model of coronal heating is investigated through long-time high-resolution simulations of the dynamics of a coronal loop in cartesian geometry within the framework of reduced magnetohydrodynamics (RMHD). Slow photospheric motions induce a Poynting flux which saturates by driving an anisotropic turbulent cascade dominated by magnetic energy and characterized by current sheets elongated along the axial magnetic field. Increasing the value of the axial magnetic field different regimes of MHD turbulence develop with a bearing on coronal heating rates. In physical space magnetic field lines at the scale of convection cells appear only slightly bended in agreement with observations of large loops of current (E)UV and X-ray imagers.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2010

Heating of coronal loops: weak MHD turbulence and scaling laws

To understand the nonlinear dynamics of the Parker scenario for coronal heating, long-time high-resolution simulations of the dynamics of a coronal loop in cartesian geometry are carried out. A loop is modeled as a box extended along the direction of the strong magnetic field $B_0$ in which the system is embedded. At the top and bottom plates, which represent the photosphere, velocity fields mimicking photospheric motions are imposed. We show that the nonlinear dynamics is described by different regimes of MHD anisotropic turbulence, with spectra characterized by intertial range power laws whose indexes range from Kolmogorov-like values ($\sim 5/3$) up to $\sim 3$. We briefly describe the bearing for coronal heating rates.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2009

Coupling Photosphere and Corona: Linear and Turbulent Regimes

In a recent work Grappin et al. [1] have shown that low- frequency movements can be transmitted from one footpoint to the other along a magnetic loop, thus mimicking a friction effect of the corona on the photosphere, and invalidating the line-tying approximation. We consider here successively the effect of high frequencies and turbulent damping on the process. We use a very simple atmospheric model which allows to study analytically the laminar case, and to study the turbulent case both using simple phenomenological arguments and a more sophisticated turbulence model [2]. We find that, except when turbulent damping is such that all turbulence is damped during loop traversal, coupling still occurs between distant footpoints, and moreover the coronal field induced by photospheric movements saturates at finite values.

astro-ph.SR↗