Paper detail

Equilibrium models of coronal loops that involve curvature and buoyancy

We construct magnetostatic models of coronal loops in which the thermodynamics of the loop is fully consistent with the shape and geometry of the loop. This is achieved by treating the loop as a thin, compact, magnetic fibril that is a small departure from a force-free state. The density along the loop is related to the loop's curvature by requiring that the Lorentz force arising from this deviation is balanced by buoyancy. This equilibrium, coupled with hydrostatic balance and the ideal gas law, then connects the temperature of the loop with the curvature of the loop without resorting to a detailed treatment of heating and cooling. We present two example solutions: one with a spatially invariant magnetic Bond number (the dimensionless ratio of buoyancy to Lorentz forces) and the other with a constant radius of curvature of the loop's axis. We find that the density and temperature profiles are quite sensitive to curvature variations along the loop, even for loops with similar aspect ratios.