Can a Fast-mode EUV Wave Generate a Stationary Front? [SSA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1604.07982


The discovery of stationary “EIT waves” about 16 years ago posed a big challenge to the then favorite fast-mode wave model for coronal “EIT waves”. It encouraged the proposing of various non-wave models, and played an important role in approaching the recent converging viewpoint, {\it i.e.} there are two types of EUV waves. However, it was recently discovered that a stationary wave front can also be generated when a fast-mode wave passes through a magnetic quasi-separatrix layer (QSL). In this paper, we perform a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) numerical simulation of the interaction between a fast-mode wave and a magnetic QSL, and a stationary wave front is reproduced. The analysis of the numerical results indicates that near the plasma beta $\sim 1$ layer in front of the magnetic QSL, part of the fast-mode wave is converted to a slow-mode MHD wave, which is then trapped inside the magnetic loops, forming a stationary wave front. Our research implies that we have to be cautious in identifying the nature of a wave since there may be mode conversion during the propagation of the waves driven by solar eruptions.

Read this paper on arXiv…

P. Chen, C. Fang, R. Chandra, et. al.
Thu, 28 Apr 16
20/57

Comments: 16 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Solar Physics