Estimating the contribution of Alfvén waves to the process of heating the quiet solar corona

Abstract

We solve numerically the ideal magnetohydrodynamic equations with an external gravitational field in 2D in order to study the effects of impulsively generated linear and non-linear Alfvén waves into isolated solar arcades and coronal funnels. We analyse the region containing the interface between the photosphere and the corona. The main interest is to study the possibility that Alfvén waves triggers the energy flux transfer towards the quiet solar corona and heat it, including the case that two consecutive waves can occur. We find that in the case of arcades, short or large, the transferred fluxes by Alfvén waves are sufficient to heat the quiet corona only during a small lapse of time and in a certain region. In the case of funnels the threshold is achieved only when the wave is faster than 10 km s. -1, which is extremely high. We conclude from our analysis, that Alfvén waves, even in the optimistic scenario of having two consecutive Alfvén wave pulses, cannot transport enough energy as to heat the quiet corona.