arXiv subjects

V. M. Nakariakov

Publications and source records attributed to V. M. Nakariakov.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Wave dynamics in a sunspot umbra

The high spatial and time resolution data obtained with SDO/AIA for the sunspot in active region NOAA 11131 on 08 December 2010 were analysed with the time-distance plot technique and the pixelised wavelet filtering method. Oscillations in the 3 min band dominate in the umbra. The integrated spectrum of umbral oscillations contains distinct narrowband peaks at 1.9 min, 2.3 min, and 2.8 min. The power significantly varies in time, forming distinct oscillation trains. The oscillation power distribution over the sunspot in the horizontal plane reveals that the enhancements of the oscillation amplitude, or wave fronts, have a distinct structure consisting of an evolving two-armed spiral and a stationary circular patch at the spiral origin, situated near the umbra centre. This structure is seen from the temperature minimum to the corona. In time, the spiral rotates anti-clockwise. The wave front spirality is most pronounced during the maximum amplitude phases of the oscillations. In the low-amplitude phases the spiral breaks into arc-shaped patches. The 2D cross-correlation function shows that the oscillations at higher atmospheric levels occur later than at lower layers. The phase speed is estimated to be about 100 km/s. The fine spectral analysis shows that the central patch corresponds to the high-frequency oscillations, while the spiral arms highlight the lower-frequency oscillations in the 3-min band. The vertical and horizontal radial structure of the oscillations is consistent with the model that interprets umbral oscillations as slow magnetoacoustic waves filtered by the atmospheric temperature non-uniformity in the presence of the magnetic field inclination from the vertical. The mechanism for the polar-angle structure of the oscillations, in particular the spirality of the wave fronts, needs to be revealed.

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arXiv2014

Multi-height observations of magnetoacoustic cut-off frequency in a sunspot atmosphere

We used the Pixelised Wavelet Filtering (PWF) method to compute narrow-band power maps of SDO/AIA imaging datasets in the 1700 Å, 1600 Å and 304 Å bandpasses that correspond to different heights. The cut-off frequency was defined as contours where the spectral power droped to the median level. It was measured as a function of the spatial location. We inferred the magnetic field inclination according to the MAG wave theory in the low-$β$ limit and compared it with the potential field extrapolation.{We analysed intensity oscillations in a symmetric sunspot AR11131(08 Dec 2010) and an asymmetric sunspot AR11330 (27 Oct 2011). We reconstructed the magnetic field inclination in the radial direction for the symmetric sunspot and in both radial and azimuthal directions for the asymmetric sunspot. We observed 3D variation of the main oscillation periods in sunspots. We found that shorter-period oscillations were mostly constrained in sunspot umbrae, while longer-period oscillations formed an annular shape enclosing the umbra. Longer periods are found to be distributed further away from the sunspot centre. Our results indicate that 3-min oscillation are generated in the chromosphere, possibly by the acoustic resonator model, while 5-min and longer-period oscillations seemed to originate in a level under the photosphere. The reconstructed field inclinations gives the values of the field inclination that are systematically larger than the values obtained by the potential field extrapolation. The inclined magnetic field line can account for 60-80% of cut-offfrequency lowering only.

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arXiv2013

Slow Magnetoacoustic Oscillations in the Microwave Emission of Solar Flares

Analysis of the microwave data, obtained in the 17 GHz channel of the Nobeyama Radioheliograph during the M1.6 flare on 4th Nov 2010, revealed the presence of 11.8-min oscillations of the emitting plasma density. The oscilla- tions decayed with the characteristic time of about 25-min. These oscillations are also well-seen in the variation of EUV emission intensity measured in the 335 A channel of SDO/AIA. The observed properties of the oscillations are consistent with the properties of so-called SUMER oscillations, observed in the EUV and soft X-ray bands usually as a periodic Doppler shift. The accepted interpretation of SUMER oscillations is a standing slow magnetoacoustic wave. Our analysis presents the first direct observation of the slow magnetoacoustic oscillations in the microwave emission of a solar flare.

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arXiv2013

Quasi-periodic wiggles of microwave zebra structures in a solar flare

Quasi-periodic wiggles of microwave zebra pattern structures with period range from about 0.5 s to 1.5 s are found in a X-class solar flare on 2006 December 13 at the 2.6-3.8 GHz with the Chinese Solar Broadband Radio Spectrometer (SBRS/Huairou). Periodogram and correlation analysis show that the wiggles have two-three significant periodicities and almost in phase between stripes at different frequency. The Alfven speed estimated from the zebra pattern structures is about 700 Km/s. We obtain the spatial size of the waveguiding plasma structure to be about 1 Mm with the detected period of about 1 s. It suggests the ZP wiggles can be associated with the fast mag- netoacoustic oscillations in the flaring active region. The lack of a significant phase shift between wiggles of different stripes suggests that the ZP wiggles are caused by a standing sausage oscillation.

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arXiv2013

Characteristics of magnetoacoustic sausage modes

Aims: We perform an advanced study of the fast magnetoacoustic sausage oscillations of coronal loops in the context of MHD coronal seismology to establish the dependence of the sausage mode period and cut-off wavenumber on the plasma-beta of the loop-filling plasma. A parametric study of the ratios for different harmonics of the mode is also carried out. Methods: Full magnetohydrodynamic numerical simulations were performed using Lare2d, simulating hot, dense loops in a magnetic slab environment. The symmetric Epstein profile and a simple step-function profile were both used to model the density structure of the simulated loops. Analytical expressions for the cut-off wavenumber and the harmonic ratio between the second longitudinal harmonic and the fundamental were also examined. Results: It was established that the period of the global sausage mode is only very weakly dependent on the value of the plasma-beta inside a coronal loop, which justifies the application of this model to hot flaring loops. The cut-off wavenumber kc for the global mode was found to be dependent on both internal and external values of the plasma-beta, again only weakly. By far the most important factor in this case was the value of the density contrast ratio between the loop and the surroundings. Finally, the deviation of the harmonic ratio P1/2P2 from the ideal non-dispersive case was shown to be considerable at low k, again strongly dependent on plasma density. Quantifying the behaviour of the cut-off wavenumber and the harmonic ratio has significant applications to the field of coronal seismology.

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arXiv2011

Height distribution of the power of 3-min oscillations over sunspots

Context. The height structure of 3-min oscillations over sunspots is studied in the context of the recently discovered effect of height inversion: over the umbra, the spatial location of the maximum of chromospheric 3-min oscillation power corresponds to the relative decrease in the power of photospheric oscillations. Aims. We investigate whether the height inversion of the power of 3-min oscillations is a common feature of the spatial structure of the oscillations for the majority of sunspots. Methods. Spectrogram sequences of H-alpha 6563Å and FeI 6569Å over sunspots, acquired with very high cadency (about 2 s or better) are obtained. The distribution of the oscillation power of the line-of-sight velocity signal is studied by using methods of wavelet frequency filtration and Fourier analysis. Results. The effect of the height inversion is found in 9 of 11 analyzed active regions. The interpretation of this effect is possibly connected to both the decrease in the level of photosphere in sunspot umbrae and the magnetic field topology.

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arXiv2011

Three-minute oscillations above sunspot umbra observed with SDO/AIA and NoRH

Three-minute oscillations over sunspot's umbra in AR 11131 were observed simultaneously in UV/EUV emission by SDO/AIA and in radio emission by Nobeyama Radioheliograph (NoRH). We use 24-hours series of SDO and 8-hours series of NoRH observations to study spectral, spatial and temporal variations of pulsations in the 5-9 mHz frequency range at different layers of the solar atmosphere. High spatial and temporal resolution of SDO/AIA in combination with long-duration observations allowed us to trace the variations of the cut-off frequency and spectrum of oscillations across the umbra. We found that higher frequency oscillations are more pronounced closer to the umbra's center, while the lower frequencies concentrate to the peripheral parts. We interpreted this discovery as a manifestation of variation of the magnetic field inclination across the umbra at the level of temperature-minimum. Possible implications of this interpretation for the diagnostics of sunspot atmospheres is discussed.

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arXiv2011

Frequency drifts of 3-min oscillations in microwave and EUV emission above sunspots

We analyse 3-min oscillations of microwave and EUV emission generated at different heights of a sunspot atmosphere, studying the amplitude and frequency modulation of the oscillations, and its relationship with the variation of the spatial structure of the oscillations. High-resolution data obtained with the Nobeyama Radioheliograph, TRACE and SDO/AIA are analysed with the use of the Pixelised Wavelet Filtering and wavelet skeleton techniques. 3-min oscillations in sunspots appear in the form of repetitive trains of the duration 8-20 min (13 min in average). The typical interval between the trains is 30-50 min. The oscillation trains are transient in frequency and power. We detected a repetitive frequency drifts of 3-min oscillations during the development of individual trains. Wavelet analysis shows three types of the frequency drift: positive, negative and fluctuations without drift. The start and end of the drifts coincide with the start time and end of the train. The comparative study of 3-min oscillations in the sequences of microwave and EUV images show the appearance of new sources of the oscillations in sunspots during the development of the trains. These structures can be interpreted as waveguides that channel upward propagating waves, responsible for 3-min oscillations. A possible explanation of the observed properties is the operation of two simultaneous factors: dispersive evolution of the upwardly-propagating wave pulses and the non-uniformity of the distribution of the oscillation power over the sunspot umbra with different wave sources corresponding to different magnetic flux tubes with different physical conditions and line-of-sight angles.

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arXiv2011

Transient induced MHD oscillations : A tool to probe the solar active regions

Solar transients and eruptive phenomena which are ubiquitous in the solar atmosphere, can shed new light to the understanding of the outstanding problems like coronal heating and the solar wind acceleration. Observations in the entire electromagnetic spectrum of such dynamical processes of large and small-scale transient/eruptive events, with highly dynamic magnetic field configuration, and energetic particles, provide crucial information about the plasma processes at mega-Kelvin temperature embedded in a complex magnetic field, and also energy build-up/energy-release processes, taking place in such events. One of the most important phenomenological aspects of solar eruptive phenomena is the induced magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves generated during these energetic processes, which carry a potential signature to probing the solar active regions. In this paper, we briefly review the recent trends of the transient (e.g., flares) induced quasi-periodic oscillations in the solar atmosphere and discuss their implications in diagnosing the solar active regions, providing the clue to understanding local plasma dynamics and heating.

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arXiv2011

Instrumental oscillations in RHESSI count rates during solar flares

Aims: We seek to illustrate the analysis problems posed by RHESSI spacecraft motion by studying persistent instrumental oscillations found in the lightcurves measured by RHESSI's X-ray detectors in the 6-12 keV and 12-25 keV energy range during the decay phase of the flares of 2004 November 4 and 6. Methods: The various motions of the RHESSI spacecraft which may contribute to the manifestation of oscillations are studied. The response of each detector in turn is also investigated. Results: We find that on 2004 November 6 the observed oscillations correspond to the nutation period of the RHESSI instrument. These oscillations are also of greatest amplitude for detector 5, while in the lightcurves of many other detectors the oscillations are small or undetectable. We also find that the variation in detector pointing is much larger during this flare than the counterexample of 2004 November 4. Conclusions: Sufficiently large nutation motions of the RHESSI spacecraft lead to clearly observable oscillations in count rates, posing a significant hazard for data analysis. This issue is particularly problematic for detector 5 due to its design characteristics. Dynamic correction of the RHESSI counts, accounting for the livetime, data gaps, and the transmission of the bi-grid collimator of each detector, is required to overcome this issue. These corrections should be applied to all future oscillation studies.

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arXiv2010

Oscillatory processes in solar flares

Electromagnetic (radio, visible-light, UV, EUV, X-ray and gamma-ray) emission generated by solar and stellar flares often contains pronounced quasi-periodic pulsations (QPP). Physical mechanisms responsible for the generation of long-period QPP (with the periods longer than one second) are likely to be associated with MHD processes. The observed modulation depths, periods and anharmonicity of QPP suggest that they can be linked with some kind of MHD auto-oscillations, e.g. an oscillatory regime of magnetic reconnection. Such regimes, of both spontaneous and induced nature, have been observed in resistive-MHD numerical simulations. The oscillations are essentially nonlinear and non-stationary. We demonstrate that a promising novel method for their analysis is the Empirical Mode Decomposition technique.

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arXiv2010

Web-Based Data Processing System for Automated Detection of Oscillations with Applications to the Solar Atmosphere

A web-based, interactive system for the remote processing of imaging data sets (i.e., EUV, X-ray and microwave) and the automated interactive detection of wave and oscillatory phenomena in the solar atmosphere is presented.The system targets localised, but spatially resolved, phenomena, such as kink, sausage, and longitudinal propagating and standing waves. The system implements the methods of Periodmapping for pre-analysis, and Pixelised Wavelet Filtering for detailed analysis of the imaging data cubes. The system is implemented on the dedicated data processing server http://pwf.iszf.irk.ru, which is situated at the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics, Irkutsk, Russia. The input data in the .sav, .fits or .txt formats can be submitted via the local and/or global network (the Internet). The output data can be in the png, jpeg and binary formats, on the user's request. The output data are periodmaps; narrowband amplitude, power, phase and correlation maps of the wave's sources at significant harmonics and in the chosen spectral intervals, and mpeg-movies of their evolution. The system was tested by the analysis throughout the EUV and microwave emission from the active region NOAA 10756 on 4 May 2005 observed with TRACE and the Nobeyama Radioheliograph. The similarity of the spatial localisation of three-minute propagating waves, near the footpoint of locally open magnetic field lines determined by the potential field extrapolation, in both the transition region and the corona was established. In the transition region the growth of the three-minute amplitude was found to be accompanied by the decrease in the line of sight angle to the wave propagation direction.

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arXiv2010

Relationship between wave processes in sunspots and quasi-periodic pulsations in active region flares

A phenomenological relationship between oscillations in a sunspot and quasi-periodic pulsations in flaring energy releases at an active region above the sunspot, is established. The analysis of the microwave emission recorded by the Nobeyama Radioheliograph at 17 GHz shows a gradual increase in the power of the 3-min oscillation train in the sunspot associated with AR 10756 before flares in this active region. The flaring light curves are found to be bursty with a period of 3 min. Our analysis of the spatial distribution of the 3-min oscillation power implies that the oscillations follow from sunspots along coronal loops towards the flaring site. It is proposed that quasi-periodic pulsations in the flaring energy releases can be triggered by 3-min slow magnetoacoustic waves leaking from sunspots.

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arXiv2004

The Nature and Excitation Mechanisms of Acoustic Oscillations in Solar and Stellar Coronal Loops

In the recent work of Nakariakov et al. (2004), it has been shown that the time dependences of density and velocity in a flaring loop contain pronounced quasi-harmonic oscillations associated with the 2nd harmonic of a standing slow magnetoacoustic wave. That model used a symmetric heating function (heat deposition was strictly at the apex). This left outstanding questions: A) is the generation of the 2nd harmonic a consequence of the fact that the heating function was symmetric? B) Would the generation of these oscillations occur if we break symmetry? C) What is the spectrum of these oscillations? Is it consistent with a 2nd spatial harmonic? The present work (and partly Tsiklauri et al. (2004b)) attempts to answer these important outstanding questions. Namely, we investigate the physical nature of these oscillations in greater detail: we study their spectrum (using periodogram technique) and how heat positioning affects the mode excitation. We found that excitation of such oscillations is practically independent of location of the heat deposition in the loop. Because of the change of the background temperature and density, the phase shift between the density and velocity perturbations is not exactly a quarter of the period, it varies along the loop and is time dependent, especially in the case of one footpoint (asymmetric) heating. We also were able to model successfully SUMER oscillations observed in hot coronal loops.

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arXiv2004

Flare Generated Acoustic Oscillations in Solar and Stellar Coronal Loops

Low-frequency longitudinal oscillations of a flaring coronal loop are studied numerically. In the recent work of Nakariakov et al., Astron. and Astrophys., 414, L25-L28 (2004) it has been shown that the time dependences of density and velocity in a flaring loop contain well-pronounced quasi-harmonic oscillations associated with a 2nd harmonic of a standing slow magnetoacoustic wave. In this work we investigate physical nature of these oscillations in greater detail, namely, we study their spectrum (using periodogram technique) and how does heat positioning affects the mode excitation. We found that excitation of such oscillations practically independent of the positioning of the heat deposition in the loop. Because of the change of the background temperature and density, the phase shift between the density and velocity perturbations is not exactly equal to the quarter of the period, it varies along the loop and is time dependent, especially in the case of one footpoint (asymmetric) heating. KEYWORDS -- Sun: flares -- Sun: oscillations -- Sun: Corona -- Stars: flare -- Stars: oscillations -- Stars: coronae

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arXiv2004

Radiative Hydrodynamic Modeling of the Bastille-Day Flare (14 July, 2000): I. Numerical Simulations

A 1-D loop radiative hydrodynamic model that incorporates the effects of gravitational stratification, heat conduction, radiative losses, external heat input, presence of helium, and Braginskii viscosity is used to simulate elementary flare loops. The physical parameters for the input are taken from observations of the Bastille-Day flare of 2000 July 14. The present analysis shows that: (a) The obtained maximum values of the electron density can be considerably higher (4.2 X 10^{11} cm^{-3} or more) in the case of footpoint heating than in the case of apex heating (2.5 X 10^{11} cm^{-3}). (b) The average cooling time after the flare peak takes less time in the case of footpoint heating than in the case of apex heating. (c) The peak apex temperatures are significantly lower (by about 10 MK) for the case of footpoint heating than for apex heating (for the same average loop temperature of about 30 MK). This characteristic allows us to discriminate between different heating positioning. (d) In both cases (of apex and footpoint heating), the maximum obtained apex temperature T^{max} is practically independent of the heating duration sigma_{t}, but scales directly with the heating rate E_{H0}. (e) The maximum obtained densities at the loop apex, n_e^{max}, increase with the heating rate E_{H0} and heating duration sigma_{t} for both footpoint and apex heating. In Paper II we will use the outputs of these hydrodynamic simulations, which cover a wide range of the parameter space of heating rates and durations, as an input for forward-fitting of the multi-loop arcade of the Bastille-day flare. KEYWORDS: Sun: Flares -- Sun: Activity -- Sun: Corona

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arXiv2004

Acoustic Oscillations in Solar and Stellar Flaring Loops

Evolution of a coronal loop in response to an impulsive energy release is numerically modelled. It is shown that the loop density evolution curves exhibit quasi-periodic perturbations with the periods given approximately by the ratio of the loop length to the average sound speed, associated with the second standing harmonics of an acoustic wave. The density perturbations have a maximum near the loop apex. The corresponding field-aligned flows have a node near the apex. We suggest that the quasi-periodic pulsations with periods in the range 10-300 s, frequently observed in flaring coronal loops in the radio, visible light and X-ray bands, may be produced by the second standing harmonic of the acoustic mode.

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arXiv2003

Statistical characterisation of full-disk EUV/XUV solar irradiance and correlation with solar activity

We investigate the distribution of fluctuations in solar irradiance when integrated over the full disk, obtained using extreme ultraviolet/soft X-ray observations from the SOHO CELIAS/SEM instrument. This time series sums over both the contributions of single distinguishable flares, and of many other processes. By detrending we select events with timescales of less than a few hours such as waves, slow flows, and CMEs. The statistics generated by this range of phenomena can be characterised by power-law-tailed distributions. We show that (i) during the high-activity period 2000 Jan-June the tail exponent a(T)=1.5 +/- 0.1; (ii) during the low-activity period 1996 Jan-June a(T)=3.0 +/- 0.2; and (iii) in general a(T) decreases with increasing activity.

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