Resonant MHD Waves in the Solar Atmosphere

• DOI: 10.1007/s11214-010-9702-7
• Publication Date: 2010-11-19T15:31:11Z
• Authors: Marcel Goossens; Robert Erdélyi; Michael S. Ruderman
• Keywords: 0103 physical sciences; 01 natural sciences

The linear theory of MHD resonant waves in inhomogeneous plasmas is reviewed. The review starts from discussing the properties of driven resonant MHD waves. The dissipative solutions in Alfven and slow dissipative layers are presented. The important concept of connection formulae is introduced. Next, we proceed on to non-stationary resonant MHD waves. The relation between quasi-modes of ideal MHD and eigenmodes of dissipative MHD are discussed. The solution describing the wave motion in non-stationary dissipative layers is given. It is shown that the connection formulae remain valid for non-stationary resonant MHD waves. The initial-value problem for resonant MHD waves is considered. The application of theory of resonant MHD waves to solar physics is discussed.