Nanoflares and MHD turbulence in coronal loops: a hybrid shell model

Phys Rev Lett. 2004 May 14;92(19):194501. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.194501. Epub 2004 May 11.

Abstract

A model to describe injection, due to footpoint motions, storage, and dissipation of MHD turbulence in coronal loops, is presented. The model is based on the use of the shell technique in the wave vector space applied to the set of reduced MHD equations. Numerical simulation showed that the energy injected is efficiently stored in the loop where a significant level of magnetic and velocity fluctuations is obtained. Nonlinear interactions among these fluctuations give rise to an energy cascade towards smaller scales where energy is dissipated in an intermittent fashion. The statistical analysis performed on the intermittent dissipative events compares well with all observed properties of nanoflare emission statistics.