MODEL FOR ALFVÉN WAVE TURBULENCE IN SOLAR CORONAL LOOPS: HEATING RATE PROFILES AND TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATIONS

Abstract

It has been suggested that the solar corona may be heated by dissipation of Alfven waves that propagate up from the solar photosphere. According to this theory, counterpropagating Alfven waves are subject to nonlinear interactions that lead to turbulent decay of the waves and heating of the chromospheric and coronal plasma. To test this theory, better models for the dynamics of Alfven waves in coronal loops are required. In this paper, we consider wave heating in an active region observed with the Solar Dynamics Observatory in 2010 May. First a three-dimensional (3D) magnetic model of the region is constructed, and ten magnetic field lines that match observed coronal loops are selected. For each loop we construct a 3D magnetohydrodynamic model of the Alfven waves near the selected field line. The waves are assumed to be generated by footpoint motions inside the kilogauss magnetic flux elements at the two ends of the loop. Based on such models, we predict the spatial and temporal profiles of the heating along the selected loops. We also estimate the temperature fluctuations resulting from such heating. We find that the Alfven wave turbulence model can reproduce the observed characteristics of the hotter loops in the active region core, but the loops at the periphery of the region have large expansion factors and are predicted to be thermally unstable.