Summary

Study of wave motions on the Sun started in the late 1940s and theorists realize
that waves could carry energy from the convection zone to the chromosphere
and corona. Dissipation of these waves could explain the observed increase in
temperature of the outer layers of the Sun. In spite of about half a century of
study, it is not fully understood how the million degree temperature of the
corona is maintained against losses due to radiation and energy outflow into the
solar wind. It is believed that propagating waves are responsible for this heating
but are difficult to observe, because they are transient and are of small spatial
scales. Presence of these waves is inferred from observations of non-thermal
broadening of solar spectral lines.
Observations show that waves and oscillations are ubiquitous in the solar
coronal structures. These propagating wave-like fronts are usually triggered by
flares or CMEs (Coronal Mass Ejections). Examples of such phenomena can be
found in Thompson et al., (1998), Wills-Davey et al., (1999) Zhukov et al.,
(2004), and more recently in Long et al., (2008). The theoretical modelling of
such phenomena was first attempted by Wu et al., (2004) using magnetic field
extrapolations from photospheric magnetograms. Waves in the solar corona are
also present on smaller spatial scales. For example, there is abundant literature
on oscillations reported in solar prominences and filaments (Oliver, 2009;
Ballester, 2010; Arregui et al., 2012).

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The magnetically dominated solar coronal plasma is an elastic and compressible

medium which supports a variety of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves.
MHD waves in the corona have been intensively investigated for more than two
decades, primarily in the context of the enigmatic problems of coronal heating
and acceleration of the fast solar wind. It is also believed that the MHD waves
play an important role in solar-terrestrial connections. Coronal loops and
prominences are magnetic structures that also show oscillatory phenomena.
Standing acoustic oscillations have been reported in hot coronal loops (e.g.,
Wang et al., 2003a; Wang et al., 2003b; Wang, 2011). Propagating longitudinal
waves involving compressions have also been found in coronal plumes (see,
Deforest and Gurman, 1998; Ofman et al., 1999; Ofman et al., 2000).
MHD waves have been broken into two subcategories namely Alfvn waves
and magneto-acoustic waves. Alfvn waves are transverse and incompressible
propagating along the magnetic field. Magneto-acoustic waves (slow and fast
modes) cause compression and rarefaction of the coronal plasma as they
propagate into the corona from the lower atmosphere. Fast waves are
intrinsically compressive and therefore subject to dissipation by viscosity, heat
conduction and radiation, or by Landau and transit-time damping in the high
frequency limit where Coloumb collisions are ineffective. In contrast, slowmode waves carry a small amount of energy flux due to their low group
velocity and are likely to be strongly damped in the lower corona.
The objective of the thesis is to answer certain fundamental questions
concerning with the propagation and dissipation of MHD waves in certain
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coronal magnetic structures. The present thesis is roughly divided into two
parts. Part 1 (Chapters 2-4) treats the problem of MHD wave generation and
dissipation in coronal loops whereas Part 2 (Chapter 5-6) deals with the study
of MHD waves in solar prominences.
The first chapter Introduction explores the Suns interior, to its surface and
high into the corona, detailing core energy production, energy transfer through
the solar body and some of the instrumentation used to observe the solar
environment. In this chapter we begin in the solar core where fusion generates
the necessary energy and briefly explain how this energy is transmitted through
the radiative zone and into the convection zone where plasma is convected and
energy transferred to the photosphere. The atmosphere of the Sun from
photosphere to extended corona has also been detailed in this chapter.
In Chapter 2, we outline the basic equation and theory behind the structure and
evolution of plasma in the solar atmosphere. The set of equations which govern
the magnetized plasma on the Sun are known as magnetohydrodynamics
(MHD) and the foundation of MHD theory is outlined. The equations of
magnetohydrodynamics, base of coronal physics are useful in order to
understand the different theoretical issues investigated in this Thesis. We also
briefly show the general properties of three MHD wave modes in a simple
equilibrium configuration. In order to derive these equations we have combined
Maxwells equations with the equations of gas dynamics and equations
describing the interaction of plasma with magnetic field. In the presence of
magnetic field, we have studied the motion of these waves with perturbed
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equilibrium state and also the effects on the surrounding plasma and magnetic
field are noted.
In Chapter 3, we have investigated the individual effects of compressive
viscosity, thermal conduction and heat radiation on the spatial damping of slow
magneto-acoustic waves in coronal loops observed by SUMER and TRACE.
We have considered homogeneous, isothermal, and unbounded coronal plasma
permeated by a uniform magnetic field, with physical properties akin to those
of coronal loops. Taking into account an energy equation with optically thin
radiative losses, thermal conduction, and heating we obtained a fourth-order
polynomial in the wave number k, which represents the dispersion relation for
slow and thermal MHD waves. The fourth order dispersion relation has been
solved numerically to study the damping length of slow waves in a medium
having physical properties akin to those of solar coronal loops. It is found that
damping length of slow-mode waves exhibits varying behavior depending upon
the physical parameters of the loop. We found that for solar coronal loops, the
dominant wave damping mechanism is compressive viscosity and thermal
conduction with less significant contribution by radiation. For any considered
period, slow waves have much shorter damping length in hot coronal loops than
that in cool loops. It is also found that slow waves damped very quickly in hot
and long coronal loops. Our results indicate that in cool coronal loops (T
2106 K) irrespective of viscous parameter short period waves (P < 0.5 t ) damp
very quickly whereas long period waves (P > 0.5 t ) travel undamped along the
length of loop. However, in the case of hot coronal loop (T 4106 K) ,
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damping length of slow waves shows a appreciable decrease as we go from

long to short period waves.
Chapter 4 of the thesis explores the effect of steady plasma flow on the
dissipation of slow magneto-acoustic waves in the solar coronal loops
permeated by uniform magnetic field. In the solar corona waves and oscillatory
activities are observed with modern imaging and spectral instruments. These
oscillations are interpreted as slow magneto-acoustic waves excited impulsively
in coronal loops. The inclusion of equilibrium steady flow not only produces a
shift in oscillatory frequency but also breaks the symmetry between parallel and
anti-parallel wave propagation. We have investigated the damping of slow
waves in the coronal plasma taking into account viscosity and thermal
conductivity as dissipative processes. On solving the dispersion relation it is
found that the presence of plasma flow influences the characteristics of wave
propagation and dissipation. We have shown that the time damping of slow
waves exhibits varying behavior depending upon the physical parameters of the
loop. We have found that in the presence of steady flow slow waves are
strongly damped in coronal loops irrespective of temperature and loop length.
The wave periods are in agreement with the observed period of loop
oscillations. The wave energy flux associated with slow magneto-acoustic
waves turns out to be of the order of 10 6 erg cm2 s1 which is high enough to
replace the energy lost through optically thin coronal emission and the thermal
conduction below to the transition region.

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In Chapter 5, we have studied the spatial damping of linear non-adiabatic

magneto-acoustic waves in a homogeneous, isothermal, and unbounded
medium permeated by a uniform magnetic field, with physical properties akin
to those of solar prominences. The linear non-adiabatic waves can provide
interesting physical effects such as time and spatial damping of disturbances
(Field, 1965). The simplest approach for non-adiabatic waves is to take into
consideration a radiative loss term in the energy equation based on Newtons
law of cooling with a constant radiative relaxation time. In the case of a
magnetized medium, this approach was used by Webb and Roberts (1980), who
analyzed MHD waves in an unbounded atmosphere in the presence of a
uniform vertical magnetic field, while in the case of slab prominence models,
the above approach used by Terradas et al. (2001) to study the radiative
damping of oscillations. We have removed the adiabaticity assumption by
means of an energy equation which includes optically thin radiative losses,
thermal conduction and heating to study the spatial damping of linear nonadiabatic MHD waves. We have linearized the MHD equations to obtain a
sixth-order polynomial in the wave number k, which represents the dispersion
relation for slow, fast, and thermal MHD waves. As we are interested in the
spatial damping, we have taken as real and have numerically solved the
dispersion relation to obtain complex solutions for the wave number k
corresponding to fast, slow, and thermal waves. The general dispersion relation
has been solved numerically for linear non-adiabatic MHD waves in
magnetized prominence plasma to study the behavior of the wavelength,
damping length and damping per wavelength for the different considered solar
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prominence regimes and heating mechanisms. Within this study, we found that
the wavelength, damping length, and damping length per wavelength for slow-,
fast- and thermal-mode waves do not change significantly in any of the three
prominence regimes when different heating mechanisms are taken into account.
It is found that linear magneto-acoustic waves are spatially damped by thermal
effects, and the strongest damping is obtained for slow waves. At periods
greater than 1 s the spatial damping of magneto-acoustic waves is dominated by
radiation, while at shorter periods the spatial damping is dominated by thermal
conduction. Radiative effects on linear magneto-acoustic slow waves can be a
viable mechanism for the spatial damping of short period prominence
oscillations, while thermal conduction does not play any role.
Finally, Chapter 6 deals with the study of the effect of background plasma flow
on the damping of slow and thermal waves in solar prominence. Field-aligned
flows are ubiquitous in magnetic structures in the solar atmosphere (Winebarger
et al., 2002; Okamoto et al., 2007; Ofman and Wang, 2008). Material flows are
typical features of prominences and are routinely observed in Ha, UV and EUV
lines ((Zirker et al., 1998; Lin et al., 2003, 2005). The non-adiabatic MHD
equations are linearized to obtain the dispersion relation for different wave
modes considering an equilibrium made of an unbounded prominence plasma
embedded in corona. By considering only field-aligned propagation, we focus
our study in the behaviour of thermal and slow waves. On solving the
dispersion relation for a fixed wave number, a complex oscillatory frequency is
obtained, and the period and the damping time are computed. When a flow is
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present, two slow waves with different periods appear while the damping time
remains unchanged. On the other hand, in this case thermal wave becomes a
propagating wave with finite period while its damping time remains also
unmodified. As a consequence of the changes in the periods produced by the
flow the damping per period of the different waves is modified. In the case of
slow waves for a fixed flow speed, the damping per period of the high-period
slow wave is increased while the opposite happens for the low-period slow
wave. The strongest finite damping per period for the high-period slow wave is
obtained for flow speeds close to the non-adiabatic sound speed. In the case of
the thermal wave, a finite value for the damping per period is obtained for any
non-zero flow speed. In this case the strongest finite damping per period is
obtained for values of the flow speed close to zero.

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