Modeling Solar Wind Variations over an 11 Year Cycle with Alfven Wave Dissipation: A Parameter Study

We study the behavior and properties of the solar wind using a 2.5D Alfven wave (AW)-driven wind model. We first systematically compare the results of an AW-driven wind model with a polytropic approach. Polytropic magnetohydrodynamic wind models are thermally driven, while AWs act as additional acceleration and heating mechanisms in the AW-driven model. We confirm that an AW-driven model is required to reproduce the observed bimodality of slow and fast solar winds. We are also able to reproduce the observed anticorrelation between the terminal wind velocity and the coronal source temperature with the AW-driven wind model. We also show that the wind properties along an 11 yr cycle differ significantly from one model to the other. The AW-driven model again shows the best agreement with observational data. Indeed, solar surface magnetic field topology plays an important role in the AW-driven wind model, as it enters directly into the input energy sources via the Poynting flux. On the other hand, the polytropic wind model is driven by an assumed pressure gradient; thus, it is relatively less sensitive to the surface magnetic field topology. Finally, we note that the net torque spinning down the Sun exhibits the same trends in the two models, showing that the polytropic approach still correctly captures the essence of stellar winds.

Automated summary

The study demonstrates that using an AW-driven wind model can better reproduce the observed characteristics of solar wind, including the bimodality of slow and fast solar winds and the anticorrelation with coronal source temperature. There are significant differences in solar wind properties between the two models, with the AW-driven model showing better agreement with observational data.