Density-gradient-driven drift waves in the solar corona

TL;DR

This study uses gyrokinetic simulations to analyze density-gradient-driven drift waves in the solar corona, revealing their potential role in coronal heating and matching observed solar wind fluctuations.

Contribution

First detailed gyrokinetic analysis of drift waves in the solar corona, exploring their properties and potential impact on coronal heating.

Findings

Drift waves exhibit positive growth rates increasing with density gradient.

Wave frequencies and growth rates match observed solar wind fluctuations.

Finite Larmor radius effects influence mode structure and growth.

Abstract

It has been suggested that under solar coronal conditions, drift waves may contribute to coronal heating. Specific properties of the drift waves to be expected in the solar corona have, however, not yet been determined using more advanced numerical models. We investigate the linear properties of density-gradient-driven drift waves in the solar coronal plasma using gyrokinetic ion-electron simulations with the gyrokinetic code GENE, solving the Vlasov-Maxwell equations in five dimensions assuming a simple slab geometry. We determine the frequencies and growth rates of the coronal density gradient-driven drift waves with changing plasma parameters, such as the electron \b{eta} , the density gradient, the magnetic shear and additional temperature gradients. To investigate the influence of the finite Larmor radius effect on the growth and structure of the modes, we also compare the gyrokinetic simulation results to those obtained from drift-kinetics. In most of the investigated conditions, the drift wave has positive growth rates that increase with increasing density gradient and decreasing \b{eta} . In the case of increasing magnetic shear, we find that from a certain point, the growth rate reaches a plateau. Depending on the considered reference environment, the frequencies and growth rates of these waves lie on the order of 0.1 mHz to 1 Hz. These values correspond to the observed solar wind density fluctuations near the Sun detected by WISPR, currently of unexplained origin. As a next step, nonlinear simulations are required to determine the expected fluctuation amplitudes and the plasma heating resulting from this mechanism.