Theory of dynamical coupling processes between the solar chromosphere and corona

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Project objective

Recent observations indicate that the lower layers of the solar atmosphere are much more dynamical than previously thought and exhibit a variety of features like localized flow events and transient brightenings. Many aspects of these observations are not yet well understood, in particular how they contribute to the coupling between chromospheres and corona and how relevant they are for problems like coronal heating and the driving of the solar wind. The present project aims at developing consistent, quantitative models for these phenomena and thereby identifying the relevant plasma physical processes in the solar chromospheres and corona and their implication for other aspects of solar physics like the heating of the corona and the generation of the fast solar wind. To achieve this, a theoretical description will be developed which takes into account the complex plasma composition in the chromospheres and in the transition region, including a neutral gas component which interacts with the charged species through collisions and ionization and recombination. On the basis of this model, numerical simulations will be carried out in order to investigate the signatures of key processes like magnetic reconnection in the coupled chromospheres-transition region-corona system and to assess their potential to explain the observed phenomena.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

• UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS · ST ANDREWSCoordinatorUnited Kingdom

Links

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