Date of upload:
08.07.2015
Co-author:
O. Steiner, M. Roth
Abstract:
The contribution of acoustic waves to the chromospheric heating is still an open question. To discuss this Issue, it is crucial to understand the propagation of waves from the convection zone, where the waves are excited, into the higher layers of the solar atmosphere. Traveling upwards through the atmosphere the waves interact with the magnetic field that is present in the photosphere and the chromosphere. This specific interaction takes place in the mode conversion zone, where the sound speed equals the Alfvén speed. Using numerical simulations of wave propagation in a realistic solar model atmosphere, we show how dramatically this interaction influences the propagation of magneto-acoustic waves in the solar atmosphere. Our results demonstrate that due to mode conversion the waves are partially refracted back towards the convection zone and are partially transmitted into the chromosphere. Furthermore, we investigate our simulations for observational quantities to infer properties of the photospheric and chromospheric magnetic field.