Tangential discontinuities and the optical analogy for stationary fields. VII. Effects of resistivity

Abstract

The relatively large resistivity in the solar photosphere and chromosphere softens the ideal tangential discontinuities of magnetostatic equilibrium into continuous transitions in field direction over scales of 0.1–10 km. This softening is communicated upward at the Alfvén speed into the active solar corona. The degree of softening is a vital part of the theory of magnetic heat input to the active X-ray corona, because the very low resistivity of the coronal gas provides effective dissipation only if the current sheets are reduced to a thickness of 10^?2km.

A close examination of the problem shows that the Alfvén transit time up into the corona is large compared to the characteristic time of 1 sec in which the coronal tangential discontinutities are formed. It also shows that the principal effect of the resistivity is to create a thin surface layer of fluid on adjacent flux bundles, which causes a general drift of the flux but does not directly broaden the current sheets higher up in the field. In fact the motions of the surface layers do not extend upwards beyond the first winding pattern at each end of a coronal loop.

It appears that the photospheric and chromospheric resistivity is without striking consequences for magnetic heating in the corona.