Weak Damping of Propagating MHD Kink Waves in the Quiescent Corona

Propagating transverse waves are thought to be a key transporter of Poynting flux throughout the Sun’s atmosphere. Recent studies have shown that these transverse motions, interpreted as the magnetohydrodynamic kink mode, are prevalent throughout the corona. The associated energy estimates suggest the waves carry enough energy to meet the demands of coronal radiative losses in the quiescent Sun. However, it is still unclear how the waves deposit their energy into the coronal plasma. We present the results from a large-scale study of propagating kink waves in the quiescent corona using data from the Coronal Multi-channel Polarimeter (CoMP). The analysis reveals that the kink waves appear to be weakly damped, which would imply low rates of energy transfer from the large-scale transverse motions to smaller scales via either uniturbulence or resonant absorption. This raises questions about how the observed kink modes would deposit their energy into the coronal plasma. Moreover, these observations, combined with the results of Monte Carlo simulations, lead us to infer that the solar corona displays a spectrum of density ratios, with a smaller density ratio (relative to the ambient corona) in quiescent coronal loops and a higher density ratio in active-region coronal loops.

Features of modeling of stress and strain waves in an anisotropic medium on the example of a wooden element

This article describes the hypotheses of the occurrence, propagation, and modification of stress and strain waves caused by external loads in isotropic and anisotropic infinite and finite elastic media. A model of an infinite elastic medium experiencing a point external impulse is presented. The model demonstrates the propagation of a longitudinal plane wave. Compaction and rarefaction of the medium are observed in the plane with wave propagation. A graph of changes in the amplitude of a longitudinal plane wave is presented in the same coordinate system. The problem is posed of expanding the numerical model of a finite elastic medium in the form of an anisotropic wooden rod experiencing a plane external impulse. The model should demonstrate the propagation of longitudinal and transverse waves and describe the volumetric deformation of an anisotropic material. Compaction and rarefaction of the medium are shown in the plane, coinciding with the direction of wave propagation. A graph of the change in the shear wave amplitude is presented in the same coordinate system. The combination of these two graphsreveals the difference in wave propagation velocities and the combination of amplitudes. The model will make it possible to identify the presence of Rayleigh waves and to describe the reflection of waves from the boundary of the medium.

Measuring Shear Wave Splitting Using the Silver and Chan Method

<p>Seismic shear waves emitted by earthquakes can be modelled as plane (transverse) waves. When entering an anisotropic medium they can be split into two orthogonal components moving at different speeds. This splitting occurs along an axis, the fast direction, that is determined by the ambient tectonic stress. Shear wave splitting is thus a commonly used tool for examining tectonic stress in the Earth’s interior. A common technique used to measure shear wave splitting is the Silver and Chan (1991) method. However, there is little literature assessing the robustness of this method, particularly for its use with local earthquakes, and the quality of results can vary. We present here a comprehensive analysis of the Silver and Chan method comprising theoretical derivations and statistical tests of the assumptions behind this method. We then produce an automated grading system calibrated against an expert manual grader using multiple linear regression. We find that there are errors in the derivation of certain equations in the Silver and Chan method and that it produces biased estimates of the errors. Further, the assumptions used to generate the errors do not hold. However, for high quality results (earthquake events where the signal is strong and the earthquake geometry is optimal), the standard errors are representative of the spread in the parameter estimates. Also, we find that our automated grading method produces grades that match the manual grades, and is able to identify mistakes in the manual grades by detecting substantial inconsistencies with the automated grades.</p>

Measuring Shear Wave Splitting Using the Silver and Chan Method

<p>Seismic shear waves emitted by earthquakes can be modelled as plane (transverse) waves. When entering an anisotropic medium they can be split into two orthogonal components moving at different speeds. This splitting occurs along an axis, the fast direction, that is determined by the ambient tectonic stress. Shear wave splitting is thus a commonly used tool for examining tectonic stress in the Earth’s interior. A common technique used to measure shear wave splitting is the Silver and Chan (1991) method. However, there is little literature assessing the robustness of this method, particularly for its use with local earthquakes, and the quality of results can vary. We present here a comprehensive analysis of the Silver and Chan method comprising theoretical derivations and statistical tests of the assumptions behind this method. We then produce an automated grading system calibrated against an expert manual grader using multiple linear regression. We find that there are errors in the derivation of certain equations in the Silver and Chan method and that it produces biased estimates of the errors. Further, the assumptions used to generate the errors do not hold. However, for high quality results (earthquake events where the signal is strong and the earthquake geometry is optimal), the standard errors are representative of the spread in the parameter estimates. Also, we find that our automated grading method produces grades that match the manual grades, and is able to identify mistakes in the manual grades by detecting substantial inconsistencies with the automated grades.</p>

Recovery of the parameters of a focal zone by the data of earthquakes

We present an approach for solving the inverse kinematic problem of seismic with internal sources, based on the method of multidimensional data approximation on irregular grids. The times of arrival of elastic waves to the seismic stations are considered as known. The hodographs from earthquake to the stations are approximated for further determining the velocities of longitudinal and transverse waves using the eikonal equation. The ratio of these velocities determines the Poisson’s ratio, and the other elastic parameters of the medium can be found in units of the density. The results of implementation of the approach, based on the real data, are presented.

Forward Modeling of Simulated Transverse Oscillations in Coronal Loops and the Influence of Background Emission

We simulate transverse oscillations in radiatively cooling coronal loops and forward-model their spectroscopic and imaging signatures, paying attention to the influence of background emission. The transverse oscillations are driven at one footpoint by a periodic velocity driver. A standing kink wave is subsequently formed and the loop cross section is deformed due to the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, resulting in energy dissipation and heating at small scales. Besides the transverse motions, a long-period longitudinal flow is also generated due to the ponderomotive force induced slow wave. We then transform the simulated straight loop to a semi-torus loop and forward-model their spectrometer and imaging emissions, mimicking observations of Hinode/EIS and SDO/AIA. We find that the oscillation amplitudes of the intensity are different at different slit positions, but are roughly the same in different spectral lines or channels. X-t diagrams of both the Doppler velocity and the Doppler width show periodic signals. We also find that the background emission dramatically decreases the Doppler velocity, making the estimated kinetic energy two orders of magnitude smaller than the real value. Our results show that background subtraction can help recover the real oscillation velocity. These results are helpful for further understanding transverse oscillations in coronal loops and their observational signatures. However, they cast doubt on the spectroscopically estimated energy content of transverse waves using the Doppler velocity.

Longitudinal to transverse metachronal wave transitions in an in-vitro model of ciliated bronchial epithelium

Myriads of cilia beat on ciliated epithelia, which are ubiquitous in life. When ciliary beats are synchronized, metachronal waves emerge, whose direction of propagation depends on the living system in an unexplained way. We show on a reconstructed human bronchial epithelium in-vitro that the direction of propagation is determined by the ability of mucus to be transported at the epithelial surface. Numerical simulations show that longitudinal waves maximise the transport of mucus while transverse waves, observed when the mucus is rigid and still, minimize the energy dissipated by the cilia.

Boundary Reflections of Rolling Waves in Cubic Anisotropic Material

Rolling waves have unconventional circular polarizations enabled by the equal-speed propagation of longitudinal and transverse waves in elastic solids. They can transport non-paraxial intrinsic (i.e. spin) mechanical angular momentum in the media. In this work, we analyze the rolling wave reflections and their effects on the non-paraxial spins in a cubic elastic half-space with an elastically supported boundary. Reflected waves from both normal and general oblique incidences are investigated. We show that, by adjusting the stiffness of the elastic boundary, we can precisely control the spin properties of the reflected waves, paving the way towards a broad category of spin manipulation techniques for bulk elastic waves.

Longitudinal and transverse waves

“Longitudinal and transverse waves” discusses vector-amplitude waves in isotropic media, as exemplified by plasma waves and by plane sound waves. Transverse and longitudinal polarizations are identified with amplitudes that are divergence-free or curl-free. These conditions pick out polarization states that are “pure”, meaning not contaminated by the other possibility.