Description
The heating of the solar corona and the acceleration of the solar wind remain unresolved questions in solar physics. Previous studies have primarily focused on Alfvén wave heating as the dominant mechanism, forming the basis of AWSoM models. These AWSoM models often require additional user defined processes to maintain a steady-state atmosphere. In this work, we explore kink wave heating as an alternative mechanism for coronal heating and solar wind acceleration, exploring the relative importance of Alfvén and kink waves.
The solar atmosphere is highly structured, exhibiting significant transversal density inhomogeneities. This leads to the MHD equations emitting a much richer spectrum of wave modes beyond the pure Alfvén wave. Unlike Alfvén waves, kink waves do not require counter-propagating components for turbulent energy transfer to occur. Instead, they undergo a process known as uniturbulence, enabling efficient energy dissipation and heating of the plasma.
To model the nonlinear turbulent dissipation of kink waves, we employ the Q-variable formulation introduced by Van Doorsselaere (2020). We implement this formulation within the Adaptive Mesh Refinement Versatile Advection Code (AMRVAC), allowing for high-resolution simulations of wave-driven heating in the solar atmosphere. Our preliminary results demonstrate that kink wave heating alone is sufficient to sustain a steady-state corona without requiring additional background heating terms. This marks a significant departure from previous solar wind models and provides a more physically motivated explanation for coronal heating and solar wind acceleration.
