Understanding the magnetic field and plasma-$β$ along umbral fan loops traced using 3-min slow waves

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Rawat, Ananya, Gupta, Girjesh, Van Doorsselaere, Tom, Prasad, S. Krishna, Erdélyi, Robertus
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Rawat, Ananya
Gupta, Girjesh
Van Doorsselaere, Tom
Prasad, S. Krishna
Erdélyi, Robertus
author_facet Rawat, Ananya
Gupta, Girjesh
Van Doorsselaere, Tom
Prasad, S. Krishna
Erdélyi, Robertus
contents The plasma-$β$ is an important fundamental physical quantity in solar plasma physics, which determines the dominating process in the solar atmosphere, i.e., magnetic or thermodynamic processes. Here, for the first time, we provide variations of magnetic field and plasma-$β$ along magnetically structured loops from the photosphere to the corona. We have selected several fan loops rooted in sunspot umbra observed simultaneously by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph and Solar Dynamics Observatory. The 3-min slow waves enabled us to trace and analyze several fan loops with cross-sectional areas in the lower atmosphere and locate their footpoints at the photosphere. We find the RMS magnetic field strengths in the range 1596-2269 G at the photospheric footpoints of the fan loops, which decrease rapidly to 158-236 G at the coronal footpoints. We estimated the plasma-$β$ at the photospheric and coronal footpoints in the range 0.2-0.5 and 0.0001-0.001, respectively. We found plasma-$β$$<$$1$ along the whole loop, whereas the plasma-$β$$\approx$$1$ layer is found to be at sub-photospheric heights. We compared our findings for isolated individual fan loops with a previously established model for active regions and found an almost similar pattern in variations with height, but with different plasma-$β$ values. Our results demonstrate the seismological potential of 3-min slow waves omnipresent in the umbral sunspot atmosphere to probe and map isolated loops and determine magnetic field and plasma-$β$ along these loops. The obtained parameters provide crucial ingredients for the theoretical modeling of the umbral atmosphere and wave dynamics along loops.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_16283
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Understanding the magnetic field and plasma-$β$ along umbral fan loops traced using 3-min slow waves
Rawat, Ananya
Gupta, Girjesh
Van Doorsselaere, Tom
Prasad, S. Krishna
Erdélyi, Robertus
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
The plasma-$β$ is an important fundamental physical quantity in solar plasma physics, which determines the dominating process in the solar atmosphere, i.e., magnetic or thermodynamic processes. Here, for the first time, we provide variations of magnetic field and plasma-$β$ along magnetically structured loops from the photosphere to the corona. We have selected several fan loops rooted in sunspot umbra observed simultaneously by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph and Solar Dynamics Observatory. The 3-min slow waves enabled us to trace and analyze several fan loops with cross-sectional areas in the lower atmosphere and locate their footpoints at the photosphere. We find the RMS magnetic field strengths in the range 1596-2269 G at the photospheric footpoints of the fan loops, which decrease rapidly to 158-236 G at the coronal footpoints. We estimated the plasma-$β$ at the photospheric and coronal footpoints in the range 0.2-0.5 and 0.0001-0.001, respectively. We found plasma-$β$$<$$1$ along the whole loop, whereas the plasma-$β$$\approx$$1$ layer is found to be at sub-photospheric heights. We compared our findings for isolated individual fan loops with a previously established model for active regions and found an almost similar pattern in variations with height, but with different plasma-$β$ values. Our results demonstrate the seismological potential of 3-min slow waves omnipresent in the umbral sunspot atmosphere to probe and map isolated loops and determine magnetic field and plasma-$β$ along these loops. The obtained parameters provide crucial ingredients for the theoretical modeling of the umbral atmosphere and wave dynamics along loops.
title Understanding the magnetic field and plasma-$β$ along umbral fan loops traced using 3-min slow waves
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.16283