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High-Frequency Magnetohydrodynamic Waves with Substantial Energy in the Solar Polar Corona

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics 2026-07-28 v1 Space Physics

Abstract

The acceleration and heating of the fast solar wind remain long-standing challenges in space physics. One type of leading theoretical models requires high-frequency magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves to transport and dissipate sufficient energy in the corona. However, such high-frequency waves with energetically significant amplitudes have never been unambiguously observed, leaving a key gap between theories and observations. Using high-cadence, high-resolution extreme-ultraviolet imaging from Solar Orbiter's Extreme Ultraviolet Imager, we identify a previously hidden population of high-frequency MHD waves in coronal plumes of the solar polar region. An analysis of the detected propagating kink waves shows that over one-third have periods shorter than 100 s, a population largely undetected by earlier instruments. Power spectral analysis demonstrates that these high-frequency waves carry substantial energy flux, which are significantly underestimated in lower-cadence data. These results suggest that high-frequency MHD waves may contribute importantly to the energy budget of the solar polar corona and could play a role in solar wind acceleration, highlighting the value of high-resolution observations for probing energy transport in magnetized space and astrophysical plasmas.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.25799,
  title  = {High-Frequency Magnetohydrodynamic Waves with Substantial Energy in the Solar Polar Corona},
  author = {Yuhang Gao and Hui Tian and Richard Morton and Tom Van Doorsselaere and Daye Lim and Mingzhe Guo and Jiansen He and Zhenyong Hou},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.25799},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

14 pages, 4 figures, 1 table