Alfven Waves in the Solar Atmosphere

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The Principal Investigator (PI) will investigate the role played by Alfvén waves in heating the solar chromosphere and corona, as well as in excitation of atmospheric oscillations in these layers. To this end, he will pursue a comprehensive study of the generation, propagation, and dissipation of Alfvén waves in the solar chromosphere and corona. The PI will use numerical codes to simulate linear and nonlinear Alfvén and Alfvén-like waves in the solar atmosphere (specifically, transverse and torsional waves within solar magnetic flux tubes) with multidimensional magnetic field geometries. The PI will test these results against available observational data and will develop a theoretical basis for interpretation of the future observations expected from the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) and the current observations from the European GREGOR telescope. Through this investigation, the PI hopes to identify the principal energy sources of the solar atmosphere and the basic physical processes responsible for creating the heliosphere. These research results will be widely disseminated through the PI's project website, journal publications, and special sessions at major science conferences. The PI will enhance graduate and undergraduate education by directly involving undergraduate and PhD graduate students in this project, and by incorporating this research into existing graduate and undergraduate courses in astrophysics and solar physics. The PI will create demonstrations featuring science results from this effort for a new planetarium located on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington, reaching out to thousands of K-12 students and large public groups who visit the campus planetarium each year. In addition, all of the PI's computer codes, demonstrations, and preprints will be made available at the project website for other interested researchers and educators to download.