CORONAL LOOP HEATING BY DISCRETE ALFVEN WAVES

We have modeled the solar coronal active loop heating by discrete Alfven waves. Discrete Alfven waves (DAW) are a new class of Alfven waves which can be described by the two-fluid model with finite ion-cyclotron frequency, or the MHD model with plasma current along the magnetic field line as shown by Appert, Vaclavik, and Villar (1984). We have modeled the coronal loop as a semi-toroidal plasma with the major toroidal radius much larger than the plasma radius. We have shown that the absorption of discrete Alfven waves by the plasma through viscosity can account for at least 30% of the coronal heating rate density of 10(-4) J m-3 s-1.