Using high-resolution numerical simulations we investigate the plasma heating driven by periodic two-fluid acoustic waves that originate at the bottom of the photosphere and propagate into the gravitationally stratified and partially ionized solar atmosphere. We consider ions+electrons and neutrals as separate fluids that interact between themselves via collision forces. The latter play an important role in the chromosphere, leading to significant damping of short-period waves. Long-period waves do not essentially alter the photospheric temperatures, but they exhibit the capability of depositing a part of their energy in the chromosphere.This results in up about a five times increase of ion temperature that takes place there on a time-scale of a few minutes. The most effective heating corresponds to waveperiods within the range of about 30-200 s with a peak value located at 80 s. However, we conclude that for the amplitude of the driver chosen to be equal to 0.1 km s −1 , this heating is too low to balance the radiative losses in the chromosphere.

We aim to study the formation and evolution of solar spicules by means of numerical simulations of the solar atmosphere. With the use of newly developed JOANNA code, we numerically solve two-fluid (for ions + electrons and neutrals) equations in 2D Cartesian geometry. We follow the evolution of a spicule triggered by the time-dependent signal in ion and neutral components of gas pressure launched in the upper chromosphere. We use the potential magnetic field, which evolves self-consistently, but mainly plays a passive role in the dynamics. Our numerical results reveal that the signal is steepened into a shock that propagates upward into the corona. The chromospheric cold and dense plasma lags behind this shock and rises into the corona with a mean speed of 20-25 km s −1 . The formed spicule exhibits the upflow/downfall of plasma during its total lifetime of around 3-4 minutes, and it follows the typical characteristics of a classical spicule, which is modeled by magnetohydrodynamics. The simulated spicule consists of a dense and cold core that is dominated by neutrals. The general dynamics of ion and neutral spicules are very similar to each other. Minor differences in those dynamics result in different widths of both spicules with increasing rarefaction of the ion spicule in time.

No abstract

Context. We investigate the wave heating problem of a solar quiet region and present its plausible solution without involving shock formation. Aims. We aim to use numerical simulations to study wave propagation and dissipation in the partially ionized solar atmosphere, whose model includes both neutrals and ions. Methods. We used a 2.5D two-fluid model of the solar atmosphere to study the wave generation and propagation. The source of these waves is the solar convection located beneath the photosphere. Results. The energy carried by the waves is dissipated through ion-neutral collisions, which replace shocks used in some previous studies as the main source of local heating in quiet regions. Conclusions. We show that the resulting wave dissipation is sufficient to balance radiative and thermal energy losses, and to sustain a quasi-stationary atmosphere whose averaged temperature profile agrees well with the observationally based semi-empirical model of Avrett & Loeser (2008, ApJS, 175, 229).