Coronal heating - Numerical experiments

The heating of the corona has been considered a general problem in solar physics for many years. Consensus today is that the convective motions in the photosphere stress the magnetic field that reaches into the corona. As the field is stressed, it somehow releases the free magnetic energy which then heats the plasma. Here, we discuss various numerical approaches that attempt to uncover the dynamical energy release process. This leads to the “complete” model experiments, where attempts to simulate the photosphere to coronal environment have been conducted. These show that present days numerical models are capable of capturing the basic process of the complicated magnetic interaction between the photosphere and corona. The model provides result that compares favourably with observational data from this domain of the Sun. The concept of the coronal heating is therefore proven, while many details still have to be improved before getting a perfect match between observations and model.