Three-dimensional models of the solar corona incorporating Alfvén and kink wave turbulence: The Uniturbulence and Alfvén Wave Solar Model

The solar coronal heating problem is one of the longest-standing unsolved challenges in solar physics. However, this phenomenon is not unique to our Sun. Many cool, solar-like stars also possess hot coronae, indicating that similar physical processes may operate across a wide range of stellar environments. Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves, such as Alfvén and kink waves, are key candidates for transporting energy from the solar surface into the corona. Interactions between counterpropagating Alfvén waves can trigger turbulence, resulting in heating, while kink waves self-interact, triggering uniturbulence, efficiently heating the plasma. In this presentation, we present results obtained by incorporating Alfvén and kink wave energy into the MHD equations, constituting the Uniturbulence and Alfvén Wave Solar Model (UAWSoM), and present the impact that waves can have on heating the solar atmosphere. In a proof-of-concept paper, we demonstrated that kink waves have a much higher heating rate than Alfvén waves given the same energy injection, suggesting they are the dominant mode responsible for heating the solar corona. We also explore the role of waves in a global context, where the solar atmosphere is modelled up to 5 R_Sun. The surface magnetic field is initialised from an observed magnetogram, and wave energy is injected according to observations. We present this novel approach to modelling the effects of two dominant wave modes in the solar atmosphere, which is highly relevant for predicting wave heating and mass loss rates in other cool stars.