Globally Propagating Waves on the Sun (Invited)

Abstract:

There are two wavelike phenomena which were found to propagate across a
significant part of the solar disk, namely, Moreton waves and coronal
``EIT waves". While Moreton waves have been successively interpreted as
coronal fast-mode MHD wave sweeping the solar surface, coronal ``EIT
waves", upon their discovery in 1997 by the EIT telescope on board the
SOHO satellite, provoked continuing debates on their nature and their
relation with solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The
wavelike phenomenon was firstly and widely explained in terms of fast-mode
MHD waves. However, such a model is contradictory with many
observational features. To reconcile the discrepancy, several other models
have been proposed, including our magnetic field-line stretching model. With
the high spatiotemporal resolution observations from the newly-launched SDO
satellite, a clearer and clearer pattern is emerging. In this talk, I will go
through the history of the observational and theoretical researches on coronal
``EIT waves".