Magnetohydrodynamic Waves in Solar Coronal Rain

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves in the atmosphere of the Sun have received much interest because of their role in transporting energy up into the atmosphere and for their seismological power. They are guided by coronal loops, magnetic flux tubes that are the building blocks of the corona. The capabilities of the space instruments such on board Hinode and the Solar Dynamics Observatory as well as ground-based solar observatories make it timely to study spatially and temporally loops for a range of coronal temperatures between chromospheric to tens of millions of degrees Kelvin. In recent years transverse waves signatures have been discovered in the hottest and coolest parts of loops (e.g. White, Verwichte & Foullon 2013). Antolin & Verwichte (2011) showed the presence of transverse oscillations in coronal rain, which are cool, dense plasma blobs formed in coronal loops due to thermal instability and that fall along the magnetic field to the solar surface. Cool down-flows are a crucial chain in the thermal cycle of the corona. However, many questions remain and the physical mechanisms behind the sub-ballistic fall rate of coronal rain remain unclear. In this STFC funded studentship, the student will investigate the interplay between MHD waves and thermally active loops using theoretical nonlinear MHD modelling including numerical modelling using in-house MHD codes. Results will be compared with observations of coronal rain from space and ground-based instruments.

Research at Warwick University’s Centre for Fusion, Space and Astrophysics (CFSA) focuses on plasma physics applied to the grand challenges of fusion energy, space physics, solar physics, and astrophysics. Our work spans fundamental theory, observation, and the analysis of experimental data, combined with high performance computing. For more details of the CFSA see http://www.warwick.ac.uk/cfsa/