Resonantly Damped Kink Magnetohydrodynamic Waves in a Partially Ionized Filament Thread

Transverse oscillations of solar filament and prominence threads have been frequently reported. These oscillations have the common features of being of short period (2–10 min) and being damped after a few periods. Kink magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wave modes have been proposed as responsible for the observed oscillations, whereas resonant absorption in the Alfvén continuum and ion-neutral collisions are the best candidates to be the damping mechanisms. Here, we study both analytically and numerically the time damping of kink MHD waves in a cylindrical, partially ionized filament thread embedded in a coronal environment. The thread model is composed of a straight and thin, homogeneous filament plasma, with a transverse inhomogeneous transitional layer where the plasma physical properties vary continuously from filament to coronal conditions. The magnetic field is homogeneous and parallel to the thread axis. We find that the kink mode is efficiently damped by resonant absorption for typical wavelengths of filament oscillations, the damping times being compatible with the observations. Partial ionization does not affect the process of resonant absorption, and the filament plasma ionization degree is only important for the damping for wavelengths much shorter than those observed. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the phenomenon of resonant absorption is studied in a partially ionized plasma. Subject headings: Sun: oscillations — Sun: magnetic fields — Sun: corona — Sun: prominences