Time-dependent Ionization in a Steady Flow in an MHD Model of the Solar Corona and Wind

Time-dependent ionization is important for diagnostics of coronal streamers and pseudostreamers. We describe time-dependent ionization calculations for a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model of the solar corona and inner heliosphere. We analyze how non-equilibrium ionization (NEI) influences emission from a pseudostreamer during the Whole Sun Month interval (Carrington rotation CR1913, 1996 August 22 to September 18). We use a time-dependent code to calculate NEI states, based on the plasma temperature, density, velocity, and magnetic field in the MHD model, to obtain the synthetic emissivities and predict the intensities of the Ly alpha, O VI, Mg X, and Si XII emission lines observed by the SOHO/Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS). At low coronal heights, the predicted intensity profiles of both Ly alpha and O VI lines match UVCS observations well, but the Mg X and Si XII emission are predicted to be too bright. At larger heights, the O VI and Mg X lines are predicted to be brighter for NEI than equilibrium ionization around this pseudostreamer, and Si XII is predicted to be fainter for NEI cases. The differences of predicted UVCS intensities between NEI and equilibrium ionization are around a factor of 2, but neither matches the observed intensity distributions along the full length of the UVCS slit. Variations in elemental abundances in closed field regions due to the gravitational settling and the FIP effect may significantly contribute to the predicted uncertainty. The assumption of Maxwellian electron distributions and errors in the magnetic field on the solar surface may also have notable effects on the mismatch between observations and model predictions.