FREQUENCY FILTERING OF TORSIONAL ALFVEN WAVES BY CHROMOSPHERIC MAGNETIC FIELD

In this Letter, we demonstrate how the observation of broadband frequency propagating torsional Alfven waves in chromospheric magnetic flux tubes can provide valuable insight into their magnetic field structure. By implementing a full nonlinear three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic numerical simulation with a realistic vortex driver, we demonstrate how the plasma structure of chromospheric magnetic flux tubes can act as a spatially dependent frequency filter for torsional Alfven waves. Importantly, for solar magnetoseismology applications, this frequency filtering is found to be strongly dependent on magnetic field structure. With reference to an observational case study of propagating torsional Alfven waves using spectroscopic data from the Swedish Solar Telescope, we demonstrate how the observed two-dimensional spatial distribution of maximum power Fourier frequency shows a strong correlation with our forward model. This opens the possibility of beginning an era of chromospheric magnetoseismology, to complement the more traditional methods of mapping the magnetic field structure of the solar chromosphere.