Effects of ambipolar diffusion on waves in the solar chromosphere

TL;DR

This study investigates how ambipolar diffusion influences wave propagation in the partially ionized solar chromosphere, showing that it mainly damps fast waves and affects small-scale structures.

Contribution

It introduces a 2D MHD model incorporating ambipolar diffusion to analyze wave damping in the chromosphere, highlighting the significance of ion-neutral interactions.

Findings

Ambipolar diffusion damps fast waves before reflection.

Damping is more significant for waves perpendicular to magnetic field.

Small-scale structures are efficiently damped by ambipolar effects.

Abstract

The chromosphere is a partially ionized layer of the solar atmosphere, the transition between the photosphere where the gas motion is determined by the gas pressure and the corona dominated by the magnetic field. We study the effect of partial ionization for 2D wave propagation in a gravitationally stratified, magnetized atmosphere with properties similar to the solar chromosphere. We adopt an oblique uniform magnetic field in the plane of propagation with strength suitable for a quiet sun region. The theoretical model used is a single fluid magnetohydrodynamic approximation, where ion-neutral interaction is modeled by the ambipolar diffusion term. Magnetic energy can be converted into internal energy through the dissipation of the electric current produced by the drift between ions and neutrals. We use numerical simulations where we continuously drive fast waves at the bottom of the atmosphere. The collisional coupling between ions and neutrals decreases with the decrease of the density and the ambipolar effect becomes important. Fast waves excited at the base of the atmosphere reach the equipartition layer and reflect or transmit as slow waves. While the waves propagate through the atmosphere and the density drops, the waves steepen into shocks. The main effect of ambipolar diffusion is damping of the waves. We find that for the parameters chosen in this work, the ambipolar diffusion affects the fast wave before it is reflected, with damping being more pronounced for waves which are launched in a direction perpendicular to the magnetic field. Slow waves are less affected by ambipolar effects. The damping increases for shorter periods and larger magnetic field strengths. Small scales produced by the nonlinear effects and the superposition of different types of waves created at the equipartition height are efficiently damped by ambipolar diffusion.