Chromospheric dynamics and turbulence regulate the solar FIP effect
Elemental abundance variations in the solar corona, characterized by first ionization potential (FIP) bias, provide crucial diagnostics of chromospheric processes. The ponderomotive force model, which attributes fractionation to Alfvén wave propagation, has successfully reproduced observed abundance patterns in various solar features. However, existing theoretical implementations rely on a static quiet-Sun chromosphere, leaving the influence of chromospheric dynamics largely unexplored. We address this limitation by combining hydrodynamic simulations from HYDRAD with ponderomotive force calculations through FIPpy, a new open-source code. Comparing predictions between an initial VAL-C chromosphere and a heated chromosphere following impulsive nanoflare-like events, we show that the ponderomotive force model remains consistent under dynamic chromospheric conditions, while stronger changes in fractionation behaviour arise from variations in acoustic flux and turbulence. Most significantly, when the acoustic wave flux drops below approximately 5×106 erg cm-2 s-1, mass-dependent thermal velocities dominate the fractionation process, producing counterintuitive patterns where Fe exceeds Ca in FIP bias, while high-FIP Ar shows fractionation. We demonstrate that any source of chromospheric turbulence will act to suppress fractionation. For flares, our results predict that the increased turbulence will suppress FIP bias, potentially explaining the observed abundance variations during flares. These findings suggest that coronal abundances and composition encode a sensitive balance between dominant mechanisms, determined by the ratio of ponderomotive acceleration to turbulent velocity. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Solar atmospheric abundances in space and time'.
Authors
- Adam J. Finley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3020-9409)
- Andy S. H. To (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0774-9084)
- Jeffrey Reep
- J. Martin Laming
Institutions
- University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (US)
- United States Naval Research Laboratory (US)
- European Space Research and Technology Centre (NL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences
- Published
- 2026-07-02
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2025.0374
- Primary Topic
- Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- University of Hawai'i
- European Space Agency
- Office of Naval Research
- U.S. Naval Research Laboratory