Turbulence transport in the solar corona: Theory, modeling, and Parker Solar Probe

Abstract

A primary goal of the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) Mission is to answer the outstanding question of how the solar corona plasma is heated to the high temperatures needed for the acceleration of the solar wind. Various heating mechanisms have been suggested, but one that is gaining increasing credence is associated with the dissipation of low frequency magnetohyrodynamic (MHD) turbulence. However, the MHD turbulence models come in several flavors: one in which outwardly propagating Alfvén waves experience reflection from the large-scale flow and density gradients associated with the solar corona, and the resulting counterpropagating Alfvén waves couple nonlinearly to produce quasi-2D turbulence that dissipates and heats the corona, thereby driving the solar wind. The second approach eschews a dominant outward flux of Alfvén waves but argues instead that quasi-2D turbulence dominates the lower coronal plasma and is generated in the constantly upwelling magnetic carpet, experiencing dissipation as it is advected through the corona and into the solar wind, yielding temperatures in the corona that exceed a million degrees. We review the two turbulence models, describe the modeling that has been done, and relate PSP observations to the basic predictions of both models. Although PSP measurements are made in the super-Alfvénic solar wind, the observations are close to the coronal region, thus providing a glimpse into the likely properties of coronal turbulence. Observations of low-frequency MHD turbulence by PSP in the super-Alfvénic solar wind allow us to place constraints on models of the turbulently heated solar corona that drive the supersonic solar wind.