MAGIC114: Solar Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and Structures of the Magnetic Field

Course details

A specialist MAGIC course

Semester

Spring 2025
Monday, January 27th to Friday, April 4th

Hours

Live lecture hours
5
Recorded lecture hours
5
Total advised study hours
40

Timetable

Wednesdays
09:05 - 09:55 (UK)

Course forum

Visit the https://v2.maths-magic.ac.uk/forums/magic114-solar-magnetohydrodynamics-mhd-and-structures-of-the-magnetic-field

Description

Solar physics is a major application of the field of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). The course introduces some key observations of the solar atmosphere and the main MHD equations. The simplified magnetohydrostatic (MHS) equilibria are used to obtain simple models of the solar magnetic field that can be used to represent stable structures in the observations.

The format will involve only 5 hours of MAGIC lectures most of which will be in the format of a practical or a tutorial. The (3) practicals let you explore the topics in interactive ways. They relate to the previous lectures and help you to assimilate the topics. The (2) tutorials will be based on two formative problem sheets.

Most of the new material will be presented as short video podcasts that will be linked from the MAGIC website. Hence you will not make much sense of the course if you only attend the timetable lectures – there are at least 5 more hours of lectures that you will need to study in your own time. 

Prerequisites

Essential:
Vector Calculus
Differential Equations
Basic Fluid Mechanics/Dynamics 

Desirable/Complimentary:
Non-dimensionalisation / scaling analysis 
Electromagnetic equations  

Syllabus

1. Introduction to solar observations – Practical 1: Getting to know the Sun 
(1 Week)

2. Electromagnetic and Momentum Equations, MHD Equations – Problem Sheet 1: Mathematics Revisions 
(1 Week)

3. MHS equilibria, hydrostatic pressure balance, plasma beta, potential fields – Practical 2: Potential field 
(1 week)

4. Lorentz Force and Solar Structures
– Problem Sheet 2: Magnetic Field Lines 
– Practical 3: Prominences 
(2 weeks)

Lecturer

  • Dr Claire Foullon

    Dr Claire Foullon

    University
    University of Exeter

Bibliography

Follow the link for a book to take you to the relevant Google Book Search page

You may be able to preview the book there and see links to places where you can buy the book. There is also link marked 'Find this book in a library' - this sometimes works well, but not always - you will need to enter your location, but it will be saved after you do that for the first time.

Assessment

The assessment for this course will be released on Tuesday 22nd April 2025 at 00:00 and is due in before Monday 5th May 2025 at 11:00.

Assessment for all MAGIC courses is via take-home exam which will be made available at the release date (the start of the exam period).

You will need to upload a PDF file with your own attempted solutions by the due date (the end of the exam period).

If you have kept up-to-date with the course, the expectation is it should take at most 3 hours’ work to attain the pass mark, which is 50%.

Please note that you are not registered for assessment on this course.

Files

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Lectures

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