EVOLUTION OF FAST MAGNETOACOUSTIC PULSES IN RANDOMLY STRUCTURED CORONAL PLASMAS

Abstract

We investigate the evolution of fast magnetoacoustic pulses in randomly structured plasmas, in the context of large-scale propagating waves in the solar atmosphere. We perform one-dimensional numerical simulations of fast wave pulses propagating perpendicular to a constant magnetic field in a low-β plasma with a random density profile across the field. Both linear and nonlinear regimes are considered. We study how the evolution of the pulse amplitude and width depends on their initial values and the parameters of the random structuring. Acting as a dispersive medium, a randomly structured plasma causes amplitude attenuation and width broadening of the fast wave pulses. After the passage of the main pulse, secondary propagating and standing fast waves appear. Width evolution of both linear and nonlinear pulses can be well approximated by linear functions; however, narrow pulses may have zero or negative broadening. This arises because narrow pulses are prone to splitting, while broad pulses usually deviate less from their initial Gaussian shape and form ripple structures on top of the main pulse. Linear pulses decay at an almost constant rate, while nonlinear pulses decay exponentially. A pulse interacts most efficiently with a random medium with a correlation length of about half of the initial pulse width. This detailed model of fast wave pulses propagating in highly structured media substantiates the interpretation of EIT waves as fast magnetoacoustic waves. Evolution of a fast pulse provides us with a novel method to diagnose the sub-resolution filamentation of the solar atmosphere.