International Journal of Mathematics and Mathematical Sciences
Volume 29 (2002), Issue 6, Pages 341-348
doi:10.1155/S0161171202007469
Effect of the radiative damping on magnetohydrodynamic waves in an isothermal medium
1Department of Mathematics, Dillard University, New Orleans 70122, LA, USA
2Department of Chemistry, University of New Orleans, New Orleans 70148, LA, USA
Received 30 April 2001
Copyright © 2002 Hadi Alkahby et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
We investigate the effect of the heat radiation on the reflection
and dissipation of upward propagating waves in an isothermal
atmosphere. It is shown that the magnetic field produces a
totally reflecting layer. Consequently, the atmosphere can be
divided into two distinct regions. In the lower region, the
solution can be written as a linear combination of an upward and
a downward propagating wave, and in the upper region the
solution, which satisfies the upper boundary condition, decays
exponentially or behaves like a constant. These two regions are
connected by a region in which the reflection and
transmission of the waves takes place. Moreover, the heat
radiation affects only the lower region and changes the sound
speed from the adiabatic value to the isothermal one. The
reflection coefficient and the attenuation factor of the
amplitude of the waves are derived for all values of the heat
radiation coefficient. Finally, the conclusions are presented in
connection with the heating process of the solar atmosphere.