Magnetohydrodynamic Modeling Investigations of Kelvin–Helmholtz Instability and Associated Magnetosonic Wave Emission along Coronal Mass Ejections

Abstract

Previous studies have suggested that the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (KHI) and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wave emissions via the KHI along various shear flow boundaries in a solar–terrestrial environment may be possible. We expand upon these previous studies to investigate the linear and nonlinear evolution of the KHI and emission of MHD waves along the boundaries of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Our results demonstrate that the KHI and MHD wave emission due to the KHI are possible along the CME boundaries during the KHI development. We found that magnetic field orientation in the region outside of the CME has strong effects on the strength of MHD wave emission. While a smaller parallel component of the magnetic field resulted in larger growth rates in the KHI development, a larger parallel component of the magnetic field resulted in stronger MHD wave emissions. For all cases we investigated, we identified emitted waves to be fast MHD waves. We suggest that these emitted MHD waves may be able to carry available kinetic energy from the CME flow to the outside of the CME, thereby contributing to solar coronal heating via energy dissipation.