Photospheric observations of surface and body modes in solar magnetic pores

TL;DR

This study provides the first direct observational evidence distinguishing surface and body magnetohydrodynamic wave modes in solar magnetic pores, revealing their energy transfer roles and frequency characteristics.

Contribution

It introduces methods to identify surface and body modes in solar pores and estimates their energies, advancing understanding of wave mode properties in solar physics.

Findings

Surface modes are more common in the data.

Surface modes carry more energy than body modes.

Frequency range observed is approximately 2 to 12 mHz.

Abstract

Over the past number of years, great strides have been made in identifying the various low-order magnetohydrodynamic wave modes observable in a number of magnetic structures found within the solar atmosphere. However, one aspect of these modes that has remained elusive, until now, is their designation as either surface or body modes. This property has significant implications on how these modes transfer energy from the waveguide to the surrounding plasma. Here, for the first time to our knowledge, we present conclusive, direct evidence of these wave characteristics in numerous pores which were observed to support sausage modes. As well as outlining methods to detect these modes in observations, we make estimates of the energies associated with each mode. We find surface modes more frequently in the data, and also that surface modes appear to carry more energy than those displaying signatures of body modes. We find frequencies in the range of ~2 to 12 mHz with body modes as high as 11 mHz, but we do not find surface modes above 10 mHz. It is expected that the techniques we have applied will help researchers search for surface and body signatures in other modes and in differing structures to those presented here.