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Coronal heating in loops of expanded cross-section
R.M. Lothian (UCLan) and
P.K. Browning (UMIST)
A model is developed to describe a coronal loop, allowing for
emergence from photospheric sources of smaller size than the coronal
radius of the loop. The energy and relative helicity of the loop are
evaluated, as are two alternative estimates of the energy available
for coronal heating. Both of these estimates are strongly dependent on
the size of the photospheric footprint of the loop. The relationship
between dissipation timescales and heating rates is then investigated.
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