Fundamental (f) Oscillations in a Magnetically Coupled Solar Interior-Atmosphere System: An Analytical Approach

Balázs Pintér, R. Erdélyi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)
134 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Solar fundamental (f) acoustic mode oscillations are investigated analytically in a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model. The model consists of three layers in planar geometry, representing the solar interior, the magnetic atmosphere, and a transitional layer sandwiched between them. Since we focus on the fundamental mode here, we assume the plasma is incompressible. A horizontal, canopy-like, magnetic field is introduced to the atmosphere, in which degenerated slow MHD waves can exist. The global (f-mode) oscillations can couple to local atmospheric Alfvén waves, resulting, e.g., in a frequency shift of the oscillations. The dispersion relation of theglobal oscillation mode is derived, and is solved analytically for the thin-transitional layer approximation and for the weak-field approximation. Analytical formulae are also provided for the frequency shifts due to the presence of a thin transitional layer and a weak atmospheric magnetic field. The analytical results generally indicate that, compared to the fundamental value (ω=gk), the mode frequency is reduced by the presence of an atmosphere by a few per cent. A thin transitional layer reduces the eigen-frequencies further by about an additional hundred microhertz. Finally, a weak atmospheric magnetic field can slightly, by a few percent, increase the frequency of the eigen-mode. Stronger magnetic fields, however, can increase the f-mode frequency by even up to ten per cent, which cannot be seen in observed data. The presence of a magnetic atmosphere in the three-layer model also introduces non-permitted propagation windows in the frequency spectrum; here, f-mode oscillations cannot exist with certain values of the harmonic degree. The eigen-frequencies can be sensitive to the background physical parameters, such as an atmospheric density scale-height or the rate of the plasma density drop at the photosphere. Such information, if ever observed with high-resolution instrumentation and inverted, could help to gain further insight into solar magnetic structures by means of solar magneto-seismology, and could provide further insight into the role of magnetism in solar oscillations
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)759-776
Number of pages18
JournalAdvances in Space Research
Volume61
Issue number2
Early online date22 Nov 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Jan 2018

Keywords

  • Helioseismology
  • F mode
  • solar interior
  • solar atmosphere
  • magnetic field
  • MHD

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Fundamental (f) Oscillations in a Magnetically Coupled Solar Interior-Atmosphere System: An Analytical Approach'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this