| Abstract: | The propagation and dissipation properties of magnetohydrodynamic waves in a nonuniform, highlyconducting plasma, is investigated with a normal mode approach. The interaction between the perturbation and the non-uniform supporting medium is analyzed as the main mechanism able to produce the small scale spatial structure necessary to dissipate efficiently the wave energy. Two fundamental classes of modes are found, characterized by their resistive or ideal asymptotic behavior; the damping rates are shown to be orders of magnitude larger than those obtained when the plasma is perfectly homogeneous, and an application to the problem of solar coronal heating is discussed.Astronomia e Scienza dello spazio, Universitá di Firenze, Italy. Observatoire de Paris-Meudon (DESPA), France. Published in Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 37, No. 5, pp. 563–579, May, 1994. |
