Tomographic 3D-Modeling of the Solar Corona with FASR

Abstract

The "Frequency-Agile Solar Radiotelescope" (FASR) litteraly opens up a new dimension in addition to the 3D Euclidian geometry: the frequency dimension. The 3D geometry is degenerated to 2D in all images from astronomical telescopes, but the additional frequency dimension allows us to retrieve the missing third dimension by means of physical modeling. We call this type of 3D reconstruction "Frequency Tomography". In this study we simulate a realistic 3D model of an active region, composed of 500 coronal loops with the 3D geometry [x(s),y(s),z(s)] constrained by magnetic field extrapolations and the physical parameters of the density n_e(s) and temperature T_e(s) given by hydrostatic solutions. We simulate a series of 20 radio images in a frequency range of f=0.1-10 GHz, anticipating the capabilities of FASR, and investigate what physical information can be retrieved from such a dataset. We discuss also forward-modeling of the chromospheric and Quiet Sun density and temperature structure, another primary goal of future FASR science.