Interaction of convective plasma and small-scale magnetic fields in the lower solar atmosphere

TL;DR

This review discusses how small-scale magnetic fields in the lower solar atmosphere interact with plasma, influencing solar activity and potentially contributing to coronal heating, emphasizing their prevalence and importance over larger explosive events.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the creation, evolution, and interactions of small-scale magnetic fields in the lower solar atmosphere, highlighting their role in solar activity.

Findings

Small-scale magnetic fields are more prevalent than larger active region events.

Magnetic reconnection and MHD wave generation are key processes involving these fields.

These phenomena are crucial for understanding solar atmospheric heating.

Abstract

In the following short review we will outline some of the possible interaction processes of lower solar atmospheric plasma with the embedded small-scale solar magnetic fields. After introducing the topic, important types of small-scale solar magnetic field elements are outlined to then focus on their creation and evolution, and finally end up describing foremost processes these magnetic fields are involved in, such as the reconnection of magnetic field lines and the creation of magneto-hydrodynamic waves. The occurrence and global coverage in the solar atmosphere of such small-scale phenomena surpass on average those of the more explosive and intense events, mainly related to solar active regions, and therefore their key role as building blocks of solar activity even during the weaker phases of the 11-year solar cycle. In particular, understanding the finest ingredients of solar activity from the lower to the upper solar atmosphere could be determinant to fully understand the heating of the solar corona, which stands out as one of the most intriguing problems in astrophysics nowadays.