Pushing the Boundaries: Solar Physics in an Era of High Spatial and Temporal Resolution

太阳是人类最重要的天文天体，太阳活动推动着太空天气，并对环境和通信产生深远影响。在地球上，我们可以通过极光等迷人的景象直接看到太阳辐射的影响。然而，目前还不能预测太阳活动背后的力量，也不能完全解释。大多数人预计，当你远离强烈的热源时，比如裸露的火焰，温度会显著下降。然而，困扰太阳系科学家的最大悖论之一是，太阳的外层大气比其表面热得多！当你离开太阳系表面旅行时，温度从6000度左右上升到100多万度，这违背了常识，50多年来一直处于太阳系研究的前沿。为了理解这个复杂的动力系统的内部工作原理，人们提出了许多理论，产生了两种截然不同的理论：耀斑事件和波加热。前者表明，太阳大气中迅速发生的小爆炸事件可能会导致观测到的陡峭温度梯度。后者依赖于磁流体(MHD)波的产生，这些波从太阳表面向上传播，并在日冕中消散。一个很好的类比是想象海浪穿过浩瀚的大海，最后在溅到岩石海岸线上时释放能量。理论认为，如果条件正确，通过等离子体的持续搅拌在太阳表面附近产生的MHD波可以向上传播，最终耗散它们的能量，并加热太阳外层大气。作为昆士兰州立大学的STFC博士后研究员，我将使用现代地面和天基望远镜，其中包含各种高分辨率仪器。我的研究计划的观测部分将重点放在单个MHD波的区别上，这将使关键特征得以评估。这些包括振荡模式(纵向、横向等)、速度、方向，当然还有能量。我将把这些值与太阳大气加热的具体值进行比较，从而允许验证或驳斥上述当前的理论加热模型。还将实施计算机模拟，以验证观测方法和准确性，最终得到更加精细的太阳大气模型。随着过去几年在太阳物理领域取得的快速进步(更好的望远镜、探测器和计算机)，最终解决大气加热悖论的能力现在已经成为现实，这也是我作为STFC博士后研究员将努力做的事情。

The Sun is the most important astronomical object for humankind, with solar activity driving 'space weather' and having a profound effect on the environment and communications. Here on Earth, we can see directly the effects of the Sun's radiation through fascinating sights such as the aurora. However, currently the power behind the Sun's activity cannot be predicted, or indeed fully explained. Most would expect that as you move away from a fierce heat source, such as a naked flame, the temperature will drop significantly. However, one of the greatest paradoxes plaguing solar-system scientists is the fact that the outer atmosphere of the Sun is much hotter than its surface! An increase in temperature from around 6000 degrees to well over one million degrees as you travel away from the surface belies common sense and has remained at the forefront of solar-system research for over 50 years. Many theories have been proposed in an attempt to understand the inner workings of this complex dynamical system, producing two distinct classes of theory: flare events and wave heating. The former suggests that rapidly occurring, small explosive events in the atmosphere of the Sun may cause the observed steep temperature gradient. The latter relies on the generation of magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) waves which propagate upwards from the surface of the Sun and dissipate in the corona. A good analogy is to imagine ocean waves travelling across the vast seas before finally releasing their energy when they splash up against a rocky coastline. Theory suggests that MHD waves generated near the surface of the Sun through the continual churning of plasma may propagate upwards if the conditions are correct, ultimately dissipating their energy and heating the outer solar atmosphere. As an STFC Postdoctoral Fellow at QUB, I will utilize modern ground- and space-based telescopes containing a wide assortment of high resolution instruments. The observational component of my research programme will focus on the distinction of individual MHD waves, which will allow key characteristics to be evaluated. These include the mode of oscillation (longitudinal, transverse, etc.), the velocity, the direction and of course, the energy. I will compare these values to those specific for atmospheric heating of the Sun, thus allowing the current theoretical heating models described above to be validated or refuted. Computer simulations will also be implemented to validate observational methodologies and accuracy, culminating in much refined models of the solar atmosphere. With the rapid advancements made in the field of solar physics over the last number of years (better telescopes, detectors and computers), the ability to finally resolve the atmospheric heating paradox is now a reality and that is what I will strive to do as an STFC Postdoctoral Fellow.