Generation of Electrostatic Waves via Parametric Instability and Heating of Solar Corona

TL;DR

This paper investigates how neutral particle motion in the lower solar atmosphere can excite electrostatic waves via parametric resonance, and how these waves damp and convert their energy into plasma heating in the upper atmosphere.

Contribution

It derives the dispersion relation for electrostatic waves excited by neutral motion and analyzes their growth and damping in different solar atmospheric layers.

Findings

Electrostatic waves can be excited by neutral motion in the lower atmosphere.

Wave damping in the upper atmosphere transfers energy into plasma heating.

Parametric resonance explains wave excitation in low ionization regions.

Abstract

In the upper layers of the solar atmosphere the temperature increases sharply. We studied possibility of the transfer of neutrals motion energy into the electrostatic waves.Electrostatic waves could damp in the upper layers of the solar atmosphere and their energy could be transformed into the thermal energy of the solar atmosphere plasma. When studying the plasma dynamics in the low altitudes of the solar atmosphere, we investigated hydrodynamics of the plasma which consists of thee components-electrons, ions and neutrals. In order to study evolution of disturbances of high amplitudes the parametric resonance technique is used. The dispersion relation for the electrostatic waves excited due tot he motion of neutrals is derived. The frequencies of electromagnetic waves which could be excited due to existence of the acoustic wave are found. The increment of excited electrostatic waves are determined. The motion of the neutrals in the lower solar atmosphere, where ionization rate is low, could excite electrostatic waves. In the upper solar atmosphere the ionization rate increases and motion of the neutrals could not support electrostatic waves and these waves could damp due to the collision of the charged particles. The energy of the damping waves could be transformed into the thermal energy of the plasma in the upper atmosphere.