Yu. G. Kopylova

Oscillations of coronal loops and second pulsations of solar radio emission

The dispersion properties of the sausage eigenmodes of oscillations in a thin magnetic flux tube are numerically analyzed in terms of ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). The period of the modes accompanied by the emission of MHD waves into the surrounding medium, which leads to acoustic damping of oscillations, is determined by the radius of the tube, not by its length. The dissipation of the sausage oscillations in comparatively high (≳0.7R⊙) and tenuous (≲6 × 108 cm−3) coronal loops is considered. Their Q factor has bound found to be determined by the acoustic damping mechanism. The ratio of the plasma densities outside and inside the loop and the characteristic height of the emission source have been estimated by assuming the quasi-periodic pulsations of meter-wavelength radio emission to be related to the sausage oscillations.

Pulsations of Microwave Emission and Flare Plasma Diagnostics

We consider the modulation of nonthermal gyrosynchrotron emission from solar flares by the ballooning and radial oscillations of coronal loops. The damping mechanisms for fast magnetoacoustic modes are analyzed. We suggest a method for diagnosing the plasma of flare loops that allows their main parameters to be estimated from peculiarities of the microwave pulsations. Based on observational data obtained with the Nobeyama Radioheliograph (17 GHz) and using a technique developed for the event of May 8, 1998, we determined the particle density n≈3.7×1010 cm−3, the temperature T≈4×107 K, and the magnetic field strength B≈220 G in the region of flare energy release. A wavelet analysis for the solar flare of August 28, 1999, has revealed two main types of microwave oscillations with periods P1≈7, 14 s and P2≈2.4 s, which we attribute to the ballooning and radial oscillations of compact and extended flare loops, respectively. An analysis of the time profile for microwave emission shows evidence of coronal loop interaction. We determined flare plasma parameters for the compact (T≈5.3×107 K, n≈4.8≈1010 cm−3, B≈280 G) and extended (T≈2.1≈107 K, n≈1.2≈1010 cm−3, B≈160 G) loops. The results of the soft X-ray observations are consistent with the adopted model.

Radial oscillations of coronal loops and microwave radiation from solar flares

We consider the damping mechanisms for the radial oscillations of solar coronal loops in the approximation of a thin magnetic flux tube. We show that the free tube oscillations can have a high Q if the plasma density inside the magnetic flux tube is much higher than the density outside. We analyze the effect of radial coronal-loop magnetic-field oscillations on the modulation of the microwave radiation from solar flares. In the case of a nonthermal gyrosynchrotron mechanism, the fluxes from optically thin and optically thick sources are modulated in antiphase. Based on our model, we diagnose the flare plasma. For the event of May 23, 1990, we estimate the spectral index for accelerated electrons, α≈4.4, and the magnetic-field strength in the region of energy release, B≈190 G.

Oscillations of optical emission from flare stars and coronal loop diagnostics

Based on an analogy between stellar and solar flares, we investigate the ten-second oscillations detected in the U and B bands on the star EV Lac. The emission pulsations are associated with fast magnetoacoustic oscillations in coronal loops. We have estimated the magnetic field, B ≈ 320 G; the temperature, T ≈ 3.7 × 107 K; and the plasma density, n ≈ 1.6 × 1011 cm−3, in the region of energy release. We provide evidence suggesting that the optical emission source is localized at the loop footpoints.

Ballooning instability and oscillations of coronal loops

The excitation of the ballooning instability by the eigenoscillations of coronal loops is analyzed using the energy method. The second variation of the potential energy for the case of a plasma—plasma boundary is obtained via the linearized ideal MHD equations. It is shown that the eigenmodes of a magnetic tube and of a toroidal coronal loop coincide in a first approximation. The bending oscillations of the loops are able to excite the ballooning instability when β ≪ 1. The effects of the instability in solar coronal loops are discussed.

Variations of microwave emission from solar active regions

Based on observational data obtained with the RT-22 Crimean Astrophysical Observatory radio telescope at frequencies of 8.6 and 15.4 GHz, we investigate the quasi-periodic variations of microwave emission from solar active regions with periods Tp<10 min. As follows from our wavelet analysis, the oscillations with periods of 3–5 min and 10–40 s have the largest amplitudes in the dynamic power spectra, while there are virtually no oscillations with Tp<10 s. Our analysis shows that acoustic modes with Tp≲1 min strongly dissipate in the lower solar corona due to thermal conduction losses. The oscillations with Tp=10–40 s are associated with Alfvén disturbances. We analyze the influence of acoustic and Alfvén oscillations on the thermal mechanisms of microwave emission in terms of the homogeneous model. We discuss the probable coronal heating sources.

Soft X-ray oscillations from AT mic : Flare plasma diagnostics

We consider the flare oscillations from the active red dwarf AT Mic detected with the XMM-Newton space observatory in the soft X-ray energy range (0.2–12 keV). Following Mitra-Kraev et al. (2005a), we associate the observed oscillations with a period of ≈750 s with the excitation of a standing slow magnetoacoustic (SMA) wave in a coronal loop. The damping of flare loop SMA oscillations is shown to be governed by electron thermal conduction. We have estimated the plasma density (≈3 × 1010 cm−3) and the minimum magnetic field strength (≈100 G) in the region of flare energy release. The adopted model is consistent with the results of a spectral analysis of the soft X-ray emission. The piston mechanism is assumed to be responsible for the excitation of loop SMA oscillations.

Ambipolar diffusion and magnetic reconnection

Some mechanisms for Joule dissipation of electric currents flowing in partially ionized hydrogen plasmas are analyzed in a three-fluid approximation. It is shown that ambipolar diffusion can be responsible for the annihilation of magnetic flux during collisions of ions with neutral atoms. The relative influences of the electron conductivity and the Cowling conductivity on the magnetic-field annihilation rate are examined in the frameworks of the Sweet-Parker reconnection model. The escape of plasma is an efficient mechanism for cooling current sheetswith thicknesses of hundreds of kilometers in the solar chromosphere. The origin of the solar chromospheric jets observed by the Hinode spacecraft is discussed.

Diagnostics of a flare on EQ Peg B from optical pulsations

Based on the methods of coronal seismology, we have investigated the ten-second quasi-periodic pulsations of the optical flare emission from the active red dwarf EQ Peg B detected with the William Herschel Telescope on La Palma. We propose and analyze a model in which they could be produced by sausage oscillations of a coronal flare loop. The amplitude and phase relations between the displacement components of the radial oscillations and the conditions for their excitation in loops with footpoints frozen into the photosphere are considered. The temperature (≈6 × 107 K), plasma density (≈2.7 × 1011 cm−3), and magnetic field strength (≈540 G) in the region of energy release have been determined. Our estimate of the flare loop length (≈0.4R⋆) provides evidence for the existence of extended coronae on red dwarf stars.

Alfven modes of solar coronal magnetic arches: Excitation of ballooning instability and modulation of flare emission

The effect of Alfven-type oscillations in a coronal magnetic arch on modulation of the gyrosynchrotron radiation and development of the ballooning instability in the arch is considered. On the basis of the energy method and the method of normal modes, the expressions are obtained for increments of ballooning instability at its swinging by natural oscillations of the arch. The conclusion is drawn that bending oscillations, which do not actually compress the plasma and, therefore, represent the Alfven-type modes, unlike the radial oscillations, are capable, under solar corona conditions, to effectively swing ballooning instability and, as a consequence, play a part of a trigger for solar flares. The ballooning instability of coronal arches is shown to be capable of causing formation of helmet-shaped structures in the lower solar corona. On the basis of calculations of the intensity modulation depth and the degree of circular polarization of non-thermal gyrosynchrotron radiation, under the assumption of excited Alfven oscillations of a coronal arch, the conclusion is drawn, that microwave observations at a frequency of > 10 GHz can be used for studying the conditions of excitation and propagation of Alfven modes in flare loops. The consequences of obtained results are discussed using the flare on April 15, 2002 as an example.