Vortex Motions in the Solar Atmosphere

Abstract

Vortex flows, related to solar convective turbulent dynamics at granular scales and their interplay with magnetic fields within intergranular lanes, occur abundantly on the solar surface and in the atmosphere above. Their presence is revealed in high-resolution and high-cadence solar observations from the ground and from space and with state-of-the-art magnetoconvection simulations. Vortical flows exhibit complex characteristics and dynamics, excite a wide range of different waves, and couple different layers of the solar atmosphere, which facilitates the channeling and transfer of mass, momentum and energy from the solar surface up to the low corona. Here we provide a comprehensive review of documented research and new developments in theory, observations, and modelling of vortices over the past couple of decades after their observational discovery, including recent observations in $\text{H}\alpha $ H α , innovative detection techniques, diverse hydrostatic modelling of waves and forefront magnetohydrodynamic simulations incorporating effects of a non-ideal plasma. It is the first systematic overview of solar vortex flows at granular scales, a field with a plethora of names for phenomena that exhibit similarities and differences and often interconnect and rely on the same physics. With the advent of the 4-m Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope and the forthcoming European Solar Telescope, the ongoing Solar Orbiter mission, and the development of cutting-edge simulations, this review timely addresses the state-of-the-art on vortex flows and outlines both theoretical and observational future research directions.

Magnetic Tornado Properties: A Substantial Contribution to the Solar Coronal Heating via Efficient Energy Transfer

“…Therefore, while the observational signature of magnetic tornadoes in the corona may be faint, they may be more frequently occurring phenomena than currently observed. For more information about vortices in the solar atmosphere, please refer to the review by Tziotziou et al (2023). A recent numerical simulation by Wedemeyer-Böhm et al (2012) demonstrated that magnetic tornadoes are capable of transporting sufficient energy to heat the quiet Sun corona.…”

Development of a vortex wind device

“…The third task is to increase the capacity of the wind device due to the vertical pipe installed on the concentrator, provided by vertical traction. Similar works are related to the study of the solar vortex structure [22], which was developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, USA). In russia, wind devices were created using the Darye rotor in the form of various modifications [23].…”

Magnetohydrodynamic Poynting Flux Vortices in the Solar Atmosphere and Their Role in Concentrating Energy

“…The M-and K-vortices are different structures, as their centers and boundaries are localized at different positions and they appear and disappear at different time frames. This is clear when looking at Figure 18 from Tziotziou et al (2023), for example. Their coexistence leads to a structure defined as a magnetic tornado, described by Wedemeyer-Böhm et al (2012).…”

“…Flow or kinetic vortices (K-vortices), which are defined as vertical rotating columns of plasma flow (see, e.g., Silva et al 2020), are also believed to be an essential mechanism to create magnetic energy input to compensate for chromospheric losses (Shelyag et al 2012;Wedemeyer-Böhm et al 2012;Yadav et al 2021;Tziotziou et al 2023). In K-vortices, the vertical Poynting flux is still mainly created by work done by the horizontal plasma motion on the vertical magnetic field encompassed by the vortex tubes (Yadav et al 2021) and intensified around the vortex tube boundaries (Kitiashvili et al 2012).…”