Using radiative magneto-hydrodynamic simulations of the magnetised solar photosphere and detailed spectro-polarimetric diagnostics with the FeI $6301.5mathrm{AA}$ and $6302.5mathrm{AA}$ photospheric lines in the local thermodynamic equilibrium approx
imation, we model active solar granulation as if it was observed at the solar limb. We analyse general properties of the radiation across the solar limb, such as the continuum and the line core limb darkening and the granulation contrast. We demonstrate the presence of profiles with both emission and absorption features at the simulated solar limb, and pure emission profiles above the limb. These profiles are associated with the regions of strong linear polarisation of the emergent radiation, indicating the influence of the intergranular magnetic fields on the line formation. We analyse physical origins of the emission wings in the Stokes profiles at the limb, and demonstrate that these features are produced by localised heating and torsional motions in the intergranular magnetic flux concentrations.
Using numerical simulations of the magnetised solar photosphere carried out with the radiative magneto-hydrodynamic code, MURaM, and detailed spectro-polarimetric diagnostics of the simulated photospheric 6302A FeI line, spectro-polarimetric signatur
es of Alfven waves in magnetised intergranular lanes of the simulated solar photosphere were analysed at different positions at the solar disk. The torsional Alfven waves in the intergranular lanes are horizontal plasma motions, which do not have a thermal perturbation counterpart. We find signatures of Alfven waves as small-scale line profile Doppler shifts and Stokes-V area asymmetry enhancements in the simulated off-disk centre observations. These photospheric features disappear when the simulated observations are degraded with a telescope PSF similar to the one of Hinode. We analyse the possibilities for direct observations and confirmation of Alfven wave presence in the solar photosphere.
The presence of photospheric magnetic reconnection has long been thought to give rise to short and impulsive events, such as Ellerman bombs (EBs) and Type II spicules. In this article, we combine high-resolution, high-cadence observations from the In
terferometric BIdimensional Spectrometer (IBIS) and Rapid Oscillations in the Solar Atmosphere (ROSA) instruments at the Dunn Solar Telescope, National Solar Observatory, New Mexico with co-aligned Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (SDO/AIA) and Solar Optical Telescope (Hinode/SOT) data to observe small-scale events situated within an active region. These data are then compared with state-of-the-art numerical simulations of the lower atmosphere made using the MURaM code. It is found that brightenings, in both the observations and the simulations, of the wings of the H alpha line profile, interpreted as EBs, are often spatially correlated with increases in the intensity of the FeI 6302.5A line core. Bi-polar regions inferred from Hinode/SOT magnetic field data show evidence of flux cancellation associated, co-spatially, with these EBs, suggesting magnetic reconnection could be a driver of these high-energy events. Through the analysis of similar events in the simulated lower atmosphere, we are able to infer that line profiles analogous to the observations occur co-spatially with regions of strong opposite polarity magnetic flux. These observed events and their simulated counterparts are interpreted as evidence of photospheric magnetic reconnection at scales observable using current observational instrumentation.
Using advanced numerical magneto-hydrodynamic simulations of the magnetised solar photosphere, including non-grey radiative transport and a non-ideal equation of state, we analyse plasma motions in photospheric magnetic vortices. We demonstrate that
apparent vortex-like motions in photospheric magnetic field concentrations do not exhibit tornado-like behaviour or a bath-tub effect. While at each time instance the velocity field lines in the upper layers of the solar photosphere show swirls, the test particles moving with the time-dependent velocity field do not demonstrate such structures. Instead, they move in a wave-like fashion with rapidly changing and oscillating velocity field, determined mainly by magnetic tension in the magnetised intergranular downflows. Using time-distance diagrams, we identify horizontal motions in the magnetic flux tubes as torsional Alfven perturbations propagating along the nearly vertical magnetic field lines with local Alfven speed.
