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Project

SOLPROM-SMS: Solar prominences: stability, magnetohydrodynamics and seismology.

The solar corona is a natural laboratory to study and understand the behavior and properties of plasmas under conditions that cannot be realized in a laboratory on Earth. The focus in this project is on Solar Prominences. Very recent observations have reported on exiting prominence dynamics with unprecedented temporal and spatial resolution as, e.g., oscillations, waves, flows, and instabilities. Prominence thread oscillations have been interpreted as magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) waves. Flows may drive Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities and resonant flow instabilities, while the threads may be thermally unstable. Despite the timeliness and relevance of the observations, these phenomena are not well-understood. The present research project aims to investigate oscillatory dynamics and stability of prominences from a theoretical point of view. We shall make use of analytical methods in combination with advanced numerical simulations. This project is organized in two parts. The main aim of the first part is to study properties of MHD waves in prominence threads. We plan to use MHD seismology as a tool to indirectly determine relevant physical parameters of the prominence plasma. In the second part of the project we shall focus on plasma instabilities, particular attention will go to thermal instabilities and shear flow instabilities under prominence conditions.
Date:1 Jun 2011 →  30 Sep 2012
Keywords:Instabilities, Prominences/Filaments, Coronal seismology, KH-instability, Waves, Magneto-hydrodynamics (MHD)
Disciplines:Astronomy and space sciences