Solar vortex networks and their ensemble contribution to atmospheric energy flux

The Sun is a compelling object to study and one of the most important for humankind as it has a direct impact on Earth, life and society. It interacts with the Earth in many ways, for example through the solar wind that channels enormous amounts of energy released by coronal mass ejections and solar flares. Thanks to the past and modern observational ground- and space-based facilities, advanced analytical and numerical models we are able to study behaviour of the Sun in more and more detail.

One of the most key challenges of modern solar physics is to understand the energy transfer within the complex solar atmosphere and, what plasma processes are responsible for heating the Sun's corona (its outer atmosphere) to million-degree temperatures. In the past ten years, it has been established that there are millions of vortices permeating the solar atmosphere all the way from the photosphere (the surface) up to the corona and they are driven by plasma motions within intergranular lanes (the regions between solar photospheric granules).

Therefore, these vortices are prime candidates for transferring energy up to the corona from the Sun's interior. What is fascinating about solar vortices, unlike fluid vortices on Earth, is that they are embedded in the Sun's magnetic field, and this strongly influences their evolution and dynamics. In this project, we will quantify the changes associated with the transition from local to global vortex collective behaviour, i.e., their communities.

We will assess the ability of vortices and vortex communities to channel energy and describe how they, collectively, impact the dynamics of the plasma and generation of events observed in the solar atmosphere. In our project, we will use real solar atmosphere simulated data and advanced data analysis techniques to identify the vortex communities and quantify how separate vortical structures are affected by the presence of other vortices.

From these vortex communities, we can assess their larger networks and how the individual communities work together to produce and channel the energy needed to heat the upper atmosphere. Once the vortex communities' network is identified, our research will also be able to address the collective role of vortices in creating coherent patterns observed in the solar atmosphere, such as the chromospheric network.

The main scientific and technical goals of this proposal are:

- use high-resolution 3D magnetoconvection numerical data that provide realistic forward modelling high-resolution synthetic data to study the generation of plasma vortices interacting with magnetic structures between photospheric granules and above;

- identify the interaction of vortices and formation of vortex communities, analyse the intra- and inter-connections between vortices and their communities;

- study the interaction of vortices of different nature, i.e., vortices driven by plasma flows and vortices due to twisted magnetic field;

- quantify the energy transport by vortex communities in the light of a constructive or destructive interaction between them within a community.

The results of our research will be even more pertinent in the current era of a new generation of ground- and space-borne high-resolution solar observations e.g., DKIST, Parker Solar Probe, Solar Orbiter, and the upcoming European Solar Telescope, where UK academia is significantly involved.