No Arabic abstract
M dwarfs atmosphere is expected to be highly magnetized. The magnetic energy can be responsible for heating the stellar chromosphere and corona, and driving the stellar wind. The nonlinear propagation of Alfven wave is the promising mechanism for both heating stellar atmosphere and driving stellar wind. Based on this Alfven wave scenario, we carried out the one-dimensional compressive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation to reproduce the stellar atmospheres and winds of TRAPPIST-1, Proxima Centauri, YZ CMi, AD Leo, AX Mic, as well as the Sun. The nonlinear propagation of Alfven wave from the stellar photosphere to chromosphere, corona, and interplanetary space is directly resolved in our study. The simulation result particularly shows that the slow shock generated through the nonlinear mode coupling of Alfven wave is crucially involved in both dynamics of stellar chromosphere (stellar spicule) and stellar wind acceleration. Our parameter survey further revealed the following general trends of physical quantities of stellar atmosphere and wind. (1) The M dwarfs coronae tend to be cooler and denser than solar corona. (2) M dwarfs stellar winds can be characterized with relatively faster velocity and much smaller mass-loss rate compared to those of solar wind. The physical mechanisms behind these tendencies are clarified in this paper, where the stronger stratification of M dwarfs atmosphere and relatively smaller Alfven wave energy input from the M dwarfs photosphere are remarkable.
A three-dimensional MHD model for the propagation and dissipation of Alfven waves in a coronal loop is developed. The model includes the lower atmospheres at the two ends of the loop. The waves originate on small spatial scales (less than 100 km) inside the kilogauss flux elements in the photosphere. The model describes the nonlinear interactions between Alfven waves using the reduced MHD approximation. The increase of Alfven speed with height in the chromosphere and transition region (TR) causes strong wave reflection, which leads to counter-propagating waves and turbulence in the photospheric and chromospheric parts of the flux tube. Part of the wave energy is transmitted through the TR and produces turbulence in the corona. We find that the hot coronal loops typically found in active regions can be explained in terms of Alfven wave turbulence, provided the small-scale footpoint motions have velocities of 1-2 km/s and time scales of 60-200 s. The heating rate per unit volume in the chromosphere is 2 to 3 orders of magnitude larger than that in the corona. We construct a series of models with different values of the model parameters, and find that the coronal heating rate increases with coronal field strength and decreases with loop length. We conclude that coronal loops and the underlying chromosphere may both be heated by Alfvenic turbulence.
M dwarfs atmosphere and wind is expected to be highly magnetized. The nonlinear propagation of Alfven wave could play a key role in both heating the stellar atmosphere and driving the stellar wind. Along this Alfven wave scenario, we carried out the one-dimensional compressive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation about the nonlinear propagation of Alfven wave from the M dwarfs photosphere, chromosphere to the corona and interplanetary space. Based on the simulation results, we develop the semi-empirical method describing the solar and M dwarfs coronal temperature, stellar wind velocity, and winds mass loss rate. We find that M dwarfs coronae tend to be cooler than solar corona, and that M dwarfs stellar winds would be characterized with faster velocity and much smaller mass loss rate compared to those of the solar wind.
Magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) Alfven waves have been a focus of laboratory plasma physics and astrophysics for over half a century. Their unique nature makes them ideal energy transporters, and while the solar atmosphere provides preferential conditions for their existence, direct detection has proved difficult as a result of their evolving and dynamic observational signatures. The viability of Alfven waves as a heating mechanism relies upon the efficient dissipation and thermalization of the wave energy, with direct evidence remaining elusive until now. Here we provide the first observational evidence of Alfven waves heating chromospheric plasma in a sunspot umbra through the formation of shock fronts. The magnetic field configuration of the shock environment, alongside the tangential velocity signatures, distinguish them from conventional umbral flashes. Observed local temperature enhancements of 5% are consistent with the dissipation of mode-converted Alfven waves driven by upwardly propagating magneto-acoustic oscillations, providing an unprecedented insight into the behaviour of Alfven waves in the solar atmosphere and beyond.
Stellar activity is inherently time variable, therefore simultaneous measurements are necessary to study the correlation between different activity indicators. In this study we compare X-ray fluxes measured within the first all-sky survey conducted by the extended ROentgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array (eROSITA) instrument on board the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG) observatory to Ca II H & K, excess flux measurements R+, using observations made with the robotic TIGRE telescope. We created the largest sample of simultaneous X-ray and spectroscopic Ca II H & K observations of late-type stars obtained so far, and in addition, previous measurements of Ca II H & K for all sample stars were obtained. We find the expected correlation between our log(L_X/L_bol) to log(R+) measurements, but when the whole stellar ensemble is considered, the correlation between coronal and chromospheric activity indicators does not improve when the simultaneously measured data are used. A more detailed analysis shows that the correlation of log(L_X/L_bol) to log(R+) measurements of the pseudo-simultaneous data still has a high probability of being better than that of a random set of non-simultaneous measurements with a long time baseline between the observations. Cyclic variations on longer timescales are therefore far more important for the activity flux-flux relations than short-term variations in the form of rotational modulation or flares, regarding the addition of noise to the activity flux-flux correlations. Finally, regarding the question of predictability of necessarily space-based log(L_X/L_bol) measurements by using ground-based chromospheric indices, we present a relation for estimating log(L_X/L_bol) from R+ values and show that the expected error in the calculated minus observed (C-O) log(L_X/L_bol) values is 0.35 dex.
Physical processes which may lead to solar chromospheric heating are analyzed using high-resolution 1.5D non-ideal MHD modelling. We demonstrate that it is possible to heat the chromospheric plasma by direct resistive dissipation of high-frequency Alfven waves through Pedersen resistivity. However this is unlikely to be sufficient to balance radiative and conductive losses unless unrealistic field strengths or photospheric velocities are used. The precise heating profile is determined by the input driving spectrum since in 1.5D there is no possibility of Alfven wave turbulence. The inclusion of the Hall term does not affect the heating rates. If plasma compressibility is taken into account, shocks are produced through the ponderomotive coupling of Alfven waves to slow modes and shock heating dominates the resistive dissipation. In 1.5D shock coalescence amplifies the effects of shocks and for compressible simulations with realistic driver spectra the heating rate exceeds that required to match radiative and conductive losses. Thus while the heating rates for these 1.5D simulations are an overestimate they do show that ponderomotive coupling of Alfven waves to sound waves is more important in chromospheric heating than Pedersen dissipation through ion-neutral collisions.