T. Van Doorsselaere et al. 2004 ApJ 606 1223 doi:10.1086/383191
T. Van Doorsselaere1, J. Andries1, S. Poedts1 and M. Goossens1
Show affiliationsThe analytic study of coronal loop oscillations in equilibrium states with thin nonuniform boundary layers is extended by a numerical investigation for one-dimensional nonuniform equilibrium states. The frequency and the damping time of the ideal kink quasi mode are calculated in fully resistive MHD. In this numerical investigation there is no need to adopt the assumption of a thin nonuniform boundary layer, which is essential for analytic theory. An important realization is that analytical expressions for the damping rate that are equivalent for thin nonuniform layers give results differing by a factor of 2 when they are used for thick nonuniform layers. Analytical theory for thin nonuniform layers does not allow us to discriminate between these analytical expressions. The dependence of the complex frequency of the kink mode on the width of the nonuniform layer, on the length of the loop, and on the density contrast between the internal and the external region is studied and is compared with analytical theory, which is valid only for thin boundaries. Our numerical results enable us to show that there exists an analytical expression for thin nonuniform layers that might be used as a qualitative tool for extrapolation into the regime of thick nonuniform layers. However, when the width of the nonuniform layer is varied, the differences between our numerical results and the results obtained with the version of the analytical approximation that can be extended into the regime of thick nonuniform layers are still as large as 25%.
Issue 2 (2004 May 10)
Received 2003 May 23, accepted for publication 2004 January 27
T. Van Doorsselaere et al. 2004 ApJ 606 1223
E. F. Milone et al. 1999 The Astronomical Journal 118 3016
Edwin A. Bergin et al 2002 ApJ 570 L101
H. Ding et al 2008 EPL 83 47001
Y. J. Bao et al 2008 EPL 83 37007
T. E. Clarke et al 2001 ApJ 547 L111
F. Lechenault et al 2008 EPL 83 46003
Antoine Mérand et al. 2007 ApJ 664 1093
H. Kusumaatmaja et al 2008 EPL 81 36003
A B Surazakov et al 2007 Environ. Res. Lett. 2 045017