Two-Fluid 2.5D Magnetohydrodynamic Simulation and Model of the Sun's Chromosphere

The sun's chromosphere is a highly dynamic, partially-ionized region where spicules (hot jets of plasma) form. Here we present a two-fluid MHD model to study the chromosphere, which includes ion-neutral interaction and frictional heating. Our simulation recovers a magnetic canopy shape that forms quickly, but is also quickly disrupted by the formation of a spicule. Our simulation produces the spicule self-consistently, where the spicule is driven by the frictional heating, which is much greater than the Ohmic heating. Thus, our simulation demonstrates that the spicule could be driven purely by thermal effects due to ion-neutral collisions and not by magnetic reconnection. We plan to improve the model to include chemical effects, neutral radiation and new observations from the upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission in the model.