Alfvén Waves in the Solar Atmosphere. From Theory to Observations

Mathioudakis, Mihalis and Jess, David B. and Erdélyi, Róbert (2013) Alfvén Waves in the Solar Atmosphere. From Theory to Observations. SPACE SCIENCE REVIEWS, 175. pp. 1-27. ISSN 0038-6308

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Abstract

Alfvén waves are considered to be viable transporters of the non-thermal energy required to heat the Sun's quiescent atmosphere. An abundance of recent observations, from state-of-the-art facilities, have reported the existence of Alfvén waves in a range of chromospheric and coronal structures. Here, we review the progress made in disentangling the characteristics of transverse kink and torsional linear magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves. We outline the simple, yet powerful theory describing their basic properties in (non-)uniform magnetic structures, which closely resemble the building blocks of the real solar atmosphere.

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