Is the solar corona nonmodally self-heated?

Abstract

Recently it was pointed out that nonmodally (transiently and/or adiabatically) pre-amplified waves in shear flows, undergoing subsequent viscous damping, can ultimately heat the ambient flow. The key ingredient of this process is the ability of waves to grow, by extracting energy from the spatially inhomogeneous mean flow. In this paper we examine this mechanism in the context of the solar coronal plasma flows. "Self-heating" (SH) processes are examined when both viscous damping and magnetic resistivity are at work. We show that if the plasma viscosity is in the favorable range of values the asymptotic SH rate in these flows can be quite substantial.

6 pages, 3 figures, Procedings of SOHO 15 Coronal Heating, ESA publication