Abstract

In this article we study the plasma motion in the transitional layer of a coronal loop randomly driven at one of its footpoints in the thin-tube and thin-boundary-layer (TTTB) approximation. We introduce the average of the square of a random function with respect to time. This average can be considered as the square of the oscillation amplitude of this quantity. Then we calculate the oscillation amplitudes of the radial and azimuthal plasma displacement as well as the perturbation of the magnetic pressure. We find that the amplitudes of the plasma radial displacement and the magnetic-pressure perturbation do not change across the transitional layer. The amplitude of the plasma radial displacement is of the same order as the driver amplitude. The amplitude of the magnetic-pressure perturbation is of the order of the driver amplitude times the ratio of the loop radius to the loop length squared. The amplitude of the plasma azimuthal displacement is of the order of the driver amplitude times text{Re}^{1/6}, where Re is the Reynolds number. It has a peak at the position in the transitional layer where the local Alfvén frequency coincides with the fundamental frequency of the loop kink oscillation. The ratio of the amplitude near this position and far from it is of the order of ell, where ell is the ratio of thickness of the transitional layer to the loop radius. We calculate the dependence of the plasma azimuthal displacement on the radial distance in the transitional layer in a particular case where the density profile in this layer is linear.

Highlights

  • Kink oscillations of coronal magnetic loops were first observed by the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) mission in 1998 and reported by Aschwanden et al (1999) and Nakariakov et al (1999)

  • In this article we studied the plasma motion in a transitional layer of a magnetic loop stochastically driven in the transverse direction at the footpoint

  • We assumed that the driving at the footpoint is described by a stationary random function

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Summary

Introduction

Kink oscillations of coronal magnetic loops were first observed by the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) mission in 1998 and reported by Aschwanden et al (1999) and Nakariakov et al (1999). They considered a few driving frequencies and found that for the same driving amplitude the excitation of kink waves is much more efficient when the driving frequency is equal or close to one of eigenfrequencies of coronal-loop oscillations, which is an expected result They observed the development of the Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) instability that causes the development of turbulence in the transitional layer between the tube core region and surrounding plasma. Afanasyev, Van Doorsselaere, and Nakariakov (2020) studied the excitation of decayless kink oscillations of coronal loops by motions of coronal footpoints using an inhomogeneous wave equation with damping and random driving.

Problem Formulation
Solution in the Transitional Layer
Calculation of Power Spectra
Properties of Plasma Motion in Transitional Layer
Linear Density Profile
Summary and Conclusion
C ln 3
Full Text
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