Investigating the Response of Loop Plasma to Nanoflare Heating Using RADYN Simulations

2018

We present the results of 1D hydrodynamic simulations of coronal loops that are subject to nanoflares, caused by either in situ thermal heating or nonthermal electron (NTE) beams. The synthesized intensity and Doppler shifts can be directly compared with Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) and Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) observations of rapid variability in the transition region (TR) of coronal loops, associated with transient coronal heating. We find that NTEs with high enough low-energy cutoff (EC) deposit energy in the lower TR and chromosphere, causing blueshifts (up to approximately 20 kilometers per second) in the IRIS Si IV lines, which thermal conduction cannot repro…