Abstract

Invited Talk - Splinter Magnetic

Thursday, 24 September 2020, 17:10   (virtual room H)

Modelling Magnetic Fields in the Solar Corona Using Magnetohydrostatic Equilibria

Thomas Neukirch
School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, UK

Many spectacular activity processes in astrophysical and space plasmas are powered by the energy stored in magnetic fields. One system in our own “cosmic backyard” displaying such activity processes is the Sun. The structure and dynamics of the outer solar atmosphere, the solar corona, are influenced very strongly by the Sun’s magnetic field. Therefore, detailed knowledge about the structure of the coronal magnetic field is of crucial importance for our understanding of the physical processes occurring in the solar corona. Sufficiently accurate measurements of the solar magnetic field are currently only possible at atmospheric heights below the corona, in particular at photospheric levels. Hence, we have to rely on theoretical models that use these measurements as boundary conditions to extrapolate the magnetic field into the corona. In this talk I aim to give an overview of some of the techniques used to model coronal magnetic fields, with an emphasis on analytical methods. I will also briefly touch upon the possibility to extend some of these methods to include the effects of rotation, which might make these methods suitable for modelling the magnetic corona of other stars.