Travel grant for ROSA DST/Sacramento Peak Observations: Hunt for MHD waves - Magneto-seismology of pores and MBPs

One of the most appealing problems of modern astrophysics is the rapid rise of temperature in the solar atmosphere. It is now clear that mechanical energy of sub-photospheric motions is transported into the solar atmosphere, where it is dissipated leading to the heating of ambient plasma. The details of this energy transport is not yet fully understood: do magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves play a key role, or is it the build-up and rapid release of magnetic stresses? Magnetic field is central in shaping the solar atmosphere because: it (i) outlines the MHD waveguides; (ii) determines connectivity topology; and (iii) stores energy relevant to plasma heating. A viable scenario of this energy transport is that the both coherent and random (sub)photospheric motions excite MHD waves that propagate through the solar atmosphere, while carrying and damping energy relevant energy in the atmosphere. It is not anymore a question whether MHD waves are there, but how relevant the wave flux is towards plasma heating and what type of MHD waves are the major players in the energy transport process(es). Here we propose (i) observing and comprehensive tracking MHD waves from photosphere to chromosphere in localised magnetic waveguides with emphases on the magnetic signatures of these waves; (ii) Next, we will determine the actual identity and nature of the detected MHD waves (slow, fast, Alfven; kink, sausage; surface, body; etc.); (iii) By means of novel magneto-seismology (Verth et al. (2010a,b); Erdelyi et al. (2010)), we will determine not just the morphology of these localised MHD waveguides (potential or not) but will also construct their accurate 3D magnetic map and attempt to determine their heating contribution through spatio-magneto-seismology.