Standing kink modes in three-dimensional coronal loops
Abstract
So far, the straight flux tube model proposed by Edwin & Roberts is the most commonly used tool in practical coronal seismology, in particular, to infer values of the (coronal) magnetic field from observed, standing kink mode oscillations. In this paper, we compare the period predicted by this basic model with three-dimensional (3D) numerical simulations of standing kink mode oscillations, as the period is a crucial parameter in the seismological inversion to determine the magnetic field. We perform numerical simulations of standing kink modes in both straight and curved 3D coronal loops and consider excitation by internal and external drivers. The period of oscillation for the displacement of dense coronal loops is determined by the loop length and the kink speed, in agreement with the estimate based on analytical theory for straight flux tubes. For curved coronal loops embedded in a magnetic arcade and excited by an external driver, a secondary mode with a period determined by the loop length and external Alfvén speed is also present. When a low number of oscillations is considered, these two periods can result in a single, non-resolved (broad) peak in the power spectrum, particularly for low values of the density contrast for which the two periods will be relatively similar. In that case (and for this particular geometry), the presence of this additional mode would lead to ambiguous seismological estimates of the magnetic field strength.
Citation
De Moortel , I & Pascoe , D J 2014 , ' Standing kink modes in three-dimensional coronal loops ' , Astrophysical Journal , vol. 784 , 101 . https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/784/2/101
Publication
Astrophysical Journal
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0004-637XType
Journal article
Rights
© 2014. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Description
I.D.M. acknowledges support from a Royal Society University Research Fellowship. The computational work for this paper was carried out at the joint STFC and SFC (SRIF)-fundedclusterattheUniversityofStAndrews(UK). The research leading to these results has also received funding from the European Commissions Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under the grant agreement SOLSPANET (project No. 269299;www.solspanet.eu/solspanet).Collections
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