Tracing Flows in the Solar Atmosphere Using the Bifrost Stellar Atmosphere Code

Abstract:

All energy that heats the solar corona must pass through the transition region between the chromosphere and corona. Observations of transition region emission lines reveal the presence of redshifts up to temperatures of about 200,000 K and blueshifts for higher temperatures. The apparent large downward flows in the lower transition region would lead to an emptying of the corona, in contrast to what is being observed, thus some mechanism must be responsible for maintaining the mass balance between the photosphere and corona.

We use the Bifrost stellar atmosphere code to perform 3D radiation MHD simulations of the solar atmosphere. The focus of this study is on the temporal evolution of mass flows into and out of the solar corona. By adding tracer particles to the simulations and analyzing their paths over time, we can provide new insights on the physical processes driving these mass flows and on their role in the chromosphere-corona mass cycle.