2016/04/27 by P. F. Chen, C. Fang, R. Chandra +1 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s11207-016-0920-3
16 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Solar Physics
arxiv created 2016/04/27 · arxiv updated 2016/06/22
The discovery of stationary "EIT waves" about 16 years ago posed a big challenge to the then favorite fast-mode wave model for coronal "EIT waves". It encouraged the proposing of various non-wave models, and played an important role in approaching the recent converging viewpoint, \it i.e. there are two types of EUV waves. However, it was recently discovered that a stationary wave front can also be generated when a fast-mode wave passes through a magnetic quasi-separatrix layer (QSL). In this paper, we perform a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) numerical simulation of the interaction between a fast-mode wave and a magnetic QSL, and a stationary wave front is reproduced. The analysis of the numerical results indicates that near the plasma beta ∼ 1 layer in front of the magnetic QSL, part of the fast-mode wave is converted to a slow-mode MHD wave, which is then trapped inside the magnetic loops, forming a stationary wave front. Our research implies that we have to be cautious in identifying the nature of a wave since there may be mode conversion during the propagation of the waves driven by solar eruptions.