Three dimensional MHD Modeling of Vertical Kink Oscillations in an Active Region Plasma Curtain

TL;DR

This study uses 3D MHD modeling to analyze vertical kink oscillations in a solar active region plasma curtain, aiming to improve coronal seismology and magnetic field estimation based on realistic magnetic and density structures.

Contribution

It introduces a realistic 3D MHD model of vertical oscillations in a plasma curtain, enhancing the accuracy of magnetic field diagnostics in coronal seismology.

Findings

Model reproduces observed oscillation details

Nonlinear fast magnetosonic pulse excites oscillations

Improved magnetic field estimation compared to standard methods

Abstract

Observations on 2011 August 9 of an X6.9-class flare in active region (AR) 11263 by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on-board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), were followed by a rare detection of vertical kink oscillations in a large-scale coronal active region plasma curtain in EUV coronal lines. The damped oscillations with periods in the range 8.8-14.9 min were detected and analyzed recently. Our aim is to study the generation and propagation of the MHD oscillations in the plasma curtain taking into account realistic 3D magnetic and density structure of the curtain. We also aim at testing and improving coronal seismology for more accurate determination of the magnetic field than with standard method. We use the observed morphological and dynamical conditions, as well as plasma properties of the coronal curtain based on Differential Emission Measure (DEM) analysis to initialize a 3D MHD model of its vertical and transverse oscillations by implementing the impulsively excited velocity pulse mimicking the flare generated nonlinear fast magnetosonic propagating disturbance interacting with the curtain obliquely. The model is simplified by utilizing initial dipole magnetic field, isothermal energy equation, and gravitationally stratified density guided by observational parameters. Using the 3D MHD model, we are able to reproduce the details of the vertical oscillations and study the process of their excitation by nonlinear fast magnetosonic pulse, propagation, and damping, finding agreement with the observations. We estimate the accuracy of simplified slab-based coronal seismology by comparing the determined magnetic field strength to actual values from the 3D MHD modeling results and demonstrate the importance of taking into account more realistic magnetic geometry and density for improving coronal seismology.