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A cellular automaton model for coronal heating

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2012

M. C. López Fuentes  and
J. A. Klimchuk
M. C. López Fuentes
Affiliation:
Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio (CONICET-UBA), CC 67, Suc 28, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina email: lopezf@iafe.uba.ar Facultad de Cs. Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
J. A. Klimchuk
Affiliation:
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 671, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
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Abstract

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We present a simple coronal heating model based on a cellular automaton approach. Following Parker's suggestion (1988), we consider the corona to be made up of elemental magnetic strands that accumulate magnetic stress due to the photospheric displacements of their footpoints. Magnetic energy is eventually released in small scale reconnection events. The model consists of a 2D grid in which strand footpoints travel with random displacements simulating convective motions. Each time two strands interact, a critical condition is tested (as in self-organized critical models), and if the condition is fulfilled, the strands reconnect and energy is released. We model the plasma response to the heating events and obtain synthetic observations. We compare the output of the model with real observations from Hinode/XRT and discuss the implications of our results for coronal heating.

Keywords

Sun: coronaSun: magnetic fieldsSun: activity
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 7 , Symposium S286: Comparative Magnetic Minima: Characterizing quiet times in the Sun and Stars , October 2011 , pp. 433 - 436
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2012

References

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