New Cutoff Frequency for Torsional Alfv'en Waves Propagating along Wide Solar Magnetic flux Tubes

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new cutoff frequency for torsional Alfvén waves in wide solar magnetic flux tubes, impacting understanding of wave propagation, energy transfer, and heating in the solar atmosphere.

Contribution

It derives a novel local cutoff frequency for wide flux tubes, extending previous thin tube models, and compares theoretical predictions with observational data.

Findings

Wideness of flux tubes affects wave cutoff frequencies.

Propagating wave ranges are established for different atmospheric heights.

Results suggest significant role of torsional Alfvén waves in solar atmospheric heating.

Abstract

An isolated, isothermal, and wide magnetic flux tube embedded either in the solar chromosphere or in the lower solar corona is considered, and the propagation of linear torsional Alfv'en waves is investigated. It is shown that the wideness of the tube leads to a new cutoff frequency, which is a local quantity that gives the conditions for the wave propagation at different atmospheric heights. The cutoff is used to establish the ranges of frequencies for the propagating and reflected waves in the solar chromosphere and lower solar corona. The obtained results are compared to those previously obtained for thin magnetic flux tubes and the differences are discussed. Moreover, the results are also compared to some current observational data, and used to establish the presence of propagating waves in the data at different atmospheric heights; this has profound implications on the energy and momentum transfer by the waves in the solar atmosphere, and the role of linear torsional Alfv'en waves in the atmospheric heating and wind acceleration.