Effect of coronal loop structure on wave heating through phase mixing

2020

Context. The mechanism(s) behind coronal heating still elude(s) direct observation and modelling of viable theoretical processes and the subsequent effect on coronal structures is one of the key tools available to assess possible heating mechanisms. Wave heating via the phase mixing of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) transverse waves has been proposed as a possible way to convert magnetic energy into thermal energy, but MHD models increasingly suggest this is not an efficient enough mechanism. Aims. We modelled heating by phase mixing transverse MHD waves in various configurations in order to investigate whether certain circumstances can enhance the heating sufficiently to sustain the million deg…