Silva, S.S.A. orcid.org/0000-0001-5414-0197, Verth, G. orcid.org/0000-0002-9546-2368, Rempel, E.L. orcid.org/0000-0002-4971-5854 et al. (3 more authors) (2024) Magnetohydrodynamic Poynting flux vortices in the solar atmosphere and their role in concentrating energy. The Astrophysical Journal, 963 (1). 10. ISSN 0004-637X
Abstract
The nature of energy generation, transport, and effective dissipation responsible for maintaining a hot solar upper atmosphere is still elusive. The Poynting flux is a vital parameter for describing the direction and magnitude of the energy flow, which is mainly used in solar physics for estimating the upward energy generated by photospheric plasma motion. This study presents a pioneering 3D mapping of the magnetic energy transport within a numerically simulated solar atmosphere. By calculating the Finite Time Lyapunov Exponent of the energy velocity, defined as the ratio of the Poynting flux to the magnetic energy density, we precisely identify the sources and destinations of the magnetic energy flow throughout the solar atmosphere. This energy mapping reveals the presence of transport barriers in the lower atmosphere, restricting the amount of magnetic energy from the photosphere reaching the chromosphere and corona. Interacting kinematic and magnetic vortices create energy channels, breaking through these barriers and allowing three times more energy input from photospheric motions to reach the upper atmosphere than before the vortices formed. The vortex system also substantially alters the energy mapping, acting as a source and deposition of energy, leading to localized energy concentration. Furthermore, our results show that the energy is transported following a vortical motion: the Poynting flux vortex. In regions where these vortices coexist, they favor conditions for energy dissipation through ohmic and viscous heating, since they naturally create large gradients in the magnetic and velocity fields over small spatial scales. Hence, the vortex system promotes local plasma heating, leading to temperatures around a million Kelvins.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. Original content from this work maybe used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Mathematics and Statistics (Sheffield) The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 29 Feb 2024 09:32 |
Last Modified: | 29 Feb 2024 09:32 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Astronomical Society |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3847/1538-4357/ad1403 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:209623 |