Signatures of Coronal Heating Mechanisms

TL;DR

This paper compares two potential coronal heating mechanisms—Alfven wave dissipation and magnetic reconnection—using simulations to identify observable differences that could help distinguish them.

Contribution

It introduces a simulation-based approach to differentiate coronal heating mechanisms through derived observational signatures.

Findings

Simulations show distinct observational signatures for each heating mechanism.

Differentiation between Alfven wave heating and reconnection is feasible with specific observational data.

Provides a framework for future observational tests of coronal heating theories.

Abstract

Alfven waves created by sub-photospheric motions or by magnetic reconnection in the low solar atmosphere seem good candidates for coronal heating. However, the corona is also likely to be heated more directly by magnetic reconnection, with dissipation taking place in current sheets. Distinguishing observationally between these two heating mechanisms is an extremely difficult task. We perform 1.5-dimensional MHD simulations of a coronal loop subject to each type of heating and derive observational quantities that may allow these to be differentiated.