WKB estimates to the critical length of twisted solar coronal loops

Abstract

The solar corona exhibits many different phenomena, observable from the Earth or space. Magnetohydrodynamic stability theory provides a method of investigating these phenomena by using it to test proposed mathematical models. WKB is a way of approximating the solutions of second order linear homogeneous differential equations with large parameters and so together with MHD stability theory, models for solar coronal loops can be investigated. In this thesis, the problem of a line tied twisted coronal loop is studied within the framework of ideal MHD using a WKB approximation to estimate the critical length at which the various magnetic fields become unstable. The problem will be split into two halves: (i) force-free and (ii) non force-free fields. Using a finite element/Fourier method, the full MHD equations will be solved numerically and the results compared with analytical solutions.