ABSTRACT
We examine the different element abundances exhibited by the closed loop solar corona and the slow speed solar wind. Both are subject to the first ionization potential (FIP) effect, the enhancement in coronal abundance of elements with FIP below 10 eV (e.g., Mg, Si, Fe) with respect to high-FIP elements (e.g., O, Ne, Ar), but with subtle differences. Intermediate elements, S, P, and C, with FIP just above 10 eV, behave as high-FIP elements in closed loops, but are fractionated more like low-FIP elements in the solar wind. On the basis of FIP fractionation by the ponderomotive force in the chromosphere, we discuss fractionation scenarios where this difference might originate. Fractionation low in the chromosphere where hydrogen is neutral enhances the S, P, and C abundances. This arises with nonresonant waves, which are ubiquitous in open field regions, and is also stronger with torsional Alfvén waves, as opposed to shear (i.e., planar) waves. We discuss the bearing these findings have on models of interchange reconnection as the source of the slow speed solar wind. The outflowing solar wind must ultimately be a mixture of the plasma in the originally open and closed fields, and the proportions and degree of mixing should depend on details of the reconnection process. We also describe novel diagnostics in ultraviolet and extreme ultraviolet spectroscopy now available with these new insights, with the prospect of investigating slow speed solar wind origins and the contribution of interchange reconnection by remote sensing.
ABSTRACT
Plasma in the Sun's hot corona expands into the heliosphere as a supersonic and highly magnetized solar wind. This paper provides an overview of our current understanding of how the corona is heated and how the solar wind is accelerated. Recent models of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence have progressed to the point of successfully predicting many observed properties of this complex, multi-scale system. However, it is not clear whether the heating in open-field regions comes mainly from the dissipation of turbulent fluctuations that are launched from the solar surface, or whether the chaotic 'magnetic carpet' in the low corona energizes the system via magnetic reconnection. To help pin down the physics, we also review some key observational results from ultraviolet spectroscopy of the collisionless outer corona.
ABSTRACT
Coronal holes are the darkest and least active regions of the Sun, as observed both on the solar disk and above the solar limb. Coronal holes are associated with rapidly expanding open magnetic fields and the acceleration of the high-speed solar wind. This paper reviews measurements of the plasma properties in coronal holes and how these measurements are used to reveal details about the physical processes that heat the solar corona and accelerate the solar wind. It is still unknown to what extent the solar wind is fed by flux tubes that remain open (and are energized by footpoint-driven wave-like fluctuations), and to what extent much of the mass and energy is input intermittently from closed loops into the open-field regions. Evidence for both paradigms is summarized in this paper. Special emphasis is also given to spectroscopic and coronagraphic measurements that allow the highly dynamic non-equilibrium evolution of the plasma to be followed as the asymptotic conditions in interplanetary space are established in the extended corona. For example, the importance of kinetic plasma physics and turbulence in coronal holes has been affirmed by surprising measurements from the UVCS instrument on SOHO that heavy ions are heated to hundreds of times the temperatures of protons and electrons. These observations point to specific kinds of collisionless Alfvén wave damping (i.e., ion cyclotron resonance), but complete theoretical models do not yet exist. Despite our incomplete knowledge of the complex multi-scale plasma physics, however, much progress has been made toward the goal of understanding the mechanisms ultimately responsible for producing the observed properties of coronal holes.
