Application of a Solar Wind Model Driven by Turbulence Dissipation to a 2D Magnetic Field Configuration

TL;DR

This paper extends 1D solar wind models incorporating turbulence dissipation to 2D magnetic field configurations, revealing potential disruptions in wind speed transitions due to multidimensional effects.

Contribution

It introduces a 2D MHD model of the solar wind driven by turbulence dissipation, highlighting differences from previous 1D models in wind transition behavior.

Findings

Qualitative agreement with 1D models in wind conditions

Potential disruption of wind speed transition in 2D simulations

Transverse force balance affects wind transition dynamics

Abstract

Although it is widely accepted that photospheric motions provide the energy source and that the magnetic field must play a key role in the process, the detailed mechanisms responsible for heating the Sun's corona and accelerating the solar wind are still not fully understood. Cranmer et al. (2007) developed a sophisticated, 1D, time-steady model of the solar wind with turbulence dissipation. By varying the coronal magnetic field, they obtain, for a single choice of wave properties, a realistic range of slow and fast wind conditions with a sharp latitudinal transition between the two streams. Using a 1D, time-dependent model of the solar wind of Lionello et al. (2014), which incorporates turbulent dissipation of Alfv\'en waves to provide heating and acceleration of the plasma, we have explored a similar configuration, obtaining qualitatively equivalent results. However, our calculations suggest that the rapid transition between slow and fast wind suggested by this 1D model may be disrupted in multidimensional MHD simulations by the requirement of transverse force balance.