# Surge-like oscillations above sunspot light bridges driven by magnetoacoustic shocks

## TL;DR

This study analyzes surge-like oscillations above sunspot light bridges, revealing they are driven by magnetoacoustic shocks related to leaked p-mode waves, with detailed spectroscopic evidence supporting shock-related dynamics.

## Contribution

It provides observational evidence linking surge-like oscillations above light bridges to magnetoacoustic shocks caused by leaked p-mode waves, a novel insight into sunspot dynamics.

## Key findings

- Oscillations form an oscillating wall above the light bridge.
- Mg II k line shows large blueshifts and redshifts indicating shocks.
- Bright oscillatory fronts correlate with shock-driven turbulence.

## Abstract

High-resolution observations of the solar chromosphere and transition region often reveal surge-like oscillatory activities above sunspot light bridges. These oscillations are often interpreted as intermittent plasma jets produced by quasi-periodic magnetic reconnection. We have analyzed the oscillations above a light bridge in a sunspot using data taken by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). The chromospheric 2796\AA{}~images show surge-like activities above the entire light bridge at any time, forming an oscillating wall. Within the wall we often see that the Mg~{\sc{ii}}~k 2796.35\AA{}~line core first experiences a large blueshift, and then gradually decreases to zero shift before increasing to a red shift of comparable magnitude. Such a behavior suggests that the oscillations are highly nonlinear and likely related to shocks. In the 1400\AA{}~passband which samples emission mainly from the Si~{\sc{iv}}~ion, the most prominent feature is a bright oscillatory front ahead of the surges. We find a positive correlation between the acceleration and maximum velocity of the moving front, which is consistent with numerical simulations of upward propagating slow-mode shock waves. The Si~{\sc{iv}} 1402.77\AA{}~line profile is generally enhanced and broadened in the bright front, which might be caused by turbulence generated through compression or by the shocks. These results, together with the fact that the oscillation period stays almost unchanged over a long duration, lead us to propose that the surge-like oscillations above light bridges are caused by shocked p-mode waves leaked from the underlying photosphere.