Disentangling flows in the solar transition region

• Main Authors: Zacharias, P, Hansteen, V. H, Leenaarts, J, Carlsson, M, Gudiksen, B. V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 20-04-2018
• Subjects: Physics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1804.07513

The measured average velocities in solar and stellar spectral lines formed at
transition region temperatures have been difficult to interpret. However,
realistic three-dimensional radiation magnetohydrodynamics (3D rMHD) models of
the solar atmosphere are able to reproduce the observed dominant line shifts
and may thus hold the key to resolve these issues. Our new 3D rMHD simulations
aim to shed light on how mass flows between the chromosphere and corona and on
how the coronal mass is maintained. Passive tracer particles, so-called corks,
allow the tracking of parcels of plasma over time and thus the study of changes
in plasma temperature and velocity not only locally, but also in a co-moving
frame. By following the trajectories of the corks, we can investigate mass and
energy flows and understand the composition of the observed velocities. Our
findings show that most of the transition region mass is cooling. The
preponderance of transition region redshifts in the model can be explained by
the higher percentage of downflowing mass in the lower and middle transition
region. The average upflows in the upper transition region can be explained by
a combination of both stronger upflows than downflows and a higher percentage
of upflowing mass. The most common combination at lower and middle transition
region temperatures are corks that are cooling and traveling downward. For
these corks, a strong correlation between the pressure gradient along the
magnetic field line and the velocity along the magnetic field line has been
observed, indicating a formation mechanism that is related to downward
propagating pressure disturbances. Corks at upper transition region
temperatures are subject to a rather slow and highly variable but continuous
heating process.