Numerical simulations of impulsively generated mass density perturbations in a solar coronal loop

Institute of Physics, UMCS, ul. Radziszewskiego 10, 20-031 Lublin, Poland e-mail: mselwa@kft.umcs.lublin.pl

Received: 24 March 2004
Accepted: 9 June 2004

Abstract

Non-symmetric oscillations in a solar coronal loop are numerically studied in the limit of a two-dimensional plasma. The obtained numerical results show that impulses, which are launched in the ambient plasma, excite oscillations in mass density profiles that reveal asymmetry in a cross-section of the loop. This asymmetry is a consequence of the fact that the loop oscillates as a whole. This feature has not been observed in the earlier numerical studies of impulsively generated waves, and it is important for the detecion of the spatial location of the source of the loop oscillations. It is also important for the observations because the density perturbations can produce corresponding perturbations of EUV or thermal X-ray emission.