Short period fast waves in solar coronal loops

¹ Physics Department, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK e-mail: cooperf@astro.warwick.ac.uk
² MSSL, University College London, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 6NT, UK e-mail: drw@mssl.ucl.ac.uk

Corresponding author: V. Nakariakov, valery@astro.warwick.ac.uk

Received: 4 June 2003
Accepted: 7 July 2003

Abstract

Short period fast magnetoacoustic waves propagating along solar coronal loops, perturbing the loop boundary along the line of sight (LOS), may be observed by imaging telescopes. The relationship between the difference in emission intensity, the angle between the LOS and the direction of propagation and the wave amplitude and wavelength, is explored for kink and sausage fast waves. It is shown that the compressibility of the plasma in the loop significantly affects the observability of the waves. For both wave types there is an optimal observation angle which is determined by the ratio of the wave length and the loop radius. The change of the observational conditions because of the loop curvature predicts a significant, up to an order of magnitude, change in the observed wave amplitude. This prediction is confirmed by the analysis of the evolution of the fast wave train amplitude, observed with the SECIS instrument. The wave train amplitude experiences a sharp increase and then a decrease along the loop. The observational results are in a good agreement with the theory.