Damping of coronal oscillations in self-consistent 3D radiative MHD simulations of the solar atmosphere

Oscillations are abundant in the solar corona. Coronal loop oscillations are typically studied using highly idealised models of magnetic flux tubes. In order to improve our understanding of coronal oscillations, it is necessary to consider the effect of realistic magnetic field topology and density structuring. We analyse the damping of coronal oscillations using a self-consistent 3D radiation-MHD simulation of the solar atmosphere spanning from the convection zone into the corona, the associated oscillation dissipation and heating, and finally the physical processes responsible for the damping and dissipation. The simulated corona formed in such a model does not depend on any prior assumptions about the shape of the coronal loops. We find that the bundle of magnetic loops shows damped transverse oscillations in response to perturbations in two separate instances with oscillation periods of 177 s and 191 s, velocity amplitudes of 10 km/s and 16 km/s and damping times of 176 s and 198 s, respectively. The coronal oscillations lead to the development of velocity shear in the simulated corona resulting in the formation of vortices seen in the velocity field caused by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, contributing to the damping and dissipation of the transverse oscillations. The oscillation parameters and evolution observed are in line with the values typically seen in observations of coronal loop oscillations. The dynamic evolution of the coronal loop bundle suggests the models of monolithic and static coronal loops with constant lengths might need to be re-evaluated by relaxing the assumption of highly idealised waveguides.