Flux-tube divergence, coronal heating, and the solar wind

Using model calculations based on a self-consistent treatment of the coronal energy balance, we show how the magnetic flux-tube divergence rate controls the coronal temperature and the properties of the solar wind. For a fixed input of mechanical and Alfven-wave energy at the coronal base, we find that as the divergence rate increases, the maximum coronal temperature decreases but the mass flux leaving the sun gradually increases. As a result, the asymptotic wind speed decreases with increasing expansion factor near the sun, in agreement with empirical studies. As noted earlier by Withbroe, the calculated mass flux at the sun is remarkably insensitive to parameter variations; when combined with magnetohydrodynamic considerations, this self-regulatory property of the model explains the observed constancy of the mass flux at earth.