Abstract Details


Name: Nitin Yadav
Affiliation: IIT Delhi
Conference ID: TVS202510326
Title: From Photospheric Vortices to Torsional Alfvén Waves: Pathways for Energy Transport in the Solar Atmosphere
Authors and Co-Authors:
Abstract Type: Invited by SOC
Abstract: Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves are widely regarded as key candidates for transporting and dissipating energy in the solar atmosphere. Among them, torsional Alfvén waves—driven by rotational or vortex-like flows—have received increasing attention as efficient channels for coupling photospheric dynamics to the chromosphere and corona. Vortex flows are ubiquitous in the solar photosphere, arising from turbulent convection and interacting with magnetic flux concentrations. Their signatures have been identified across a wide range of magnetic environments, from quiet Sun regions to strongly magnetized plages, and are now recognized as potential drivers of wave energy flux into the upper atmosphere. In this talk, I will provide an overview of current understanding of vortices and their connection to torsional Alfvén waves, drawing on both observations and numerical models. I will then highlight results from recent three-dimensional radiation-MHD simulations (MURaM), which allow us to systematically study vortex dynamics across quiet Sun, weak plage, and strong plage conditions. These simulations reveal how vortex generation, spatial distribution, and evolution depend on the magnetic environment, and how the resulting swirling motions are linked to Alfvénic perturbations. In particular, I will discuss the efficiency of vortex-induced Alfvén wave propagation in different regimes and the possible pathways toward dissipation and heating through vortex interactions in strongly magnetized flux tubes.