Wave Heating in Simulated Multistranded Coronal Loops

Abstract

Abstract It has been found that the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (KHI) induced by both transverse and torsional oscillations in coronal loops can reinforce the effects of wave heating. In this study, we model a coronal loop as a system of individual strands, and we study wave heating effects by considering a combined transverse and torsional driver at the loop footpoint. We deposit the same energy into the multistranded loop and an equivalent monolithic loop, and then observe a faster increase in the internal energy and temperature in the multistranded model. Therefore, the multistranded model is more efficient in starting the heating process. Moreover, higher temperature is observed near the footpoint in the multistranded loop and near the apex in the monolithic loop. The apparent heating location in the multistranded loop agrees with the previous predictions and observations. Given the differences in the results from our multistranded loop and monolithic loop simulations, and given that coronal loops are suggested to be multistranded on both theoretical and observational grounds, our results suggest that the multistrandedness of coronal loops needs to be incorporated in future wave-based heating mechanisms.