Heating and mass transfer in solar and stellar atmospheres by turbulent Alfven waves

We examine the possibility that turbulent Alfven waves, created in the upper transition region or lower corona, can be the principal source of the heating of solar and stellar coronae, and the origin of the solar and stellar winds. The model avoids the general problem of energy transfer of waves through the photosphere and chromosphere. We show that energy fluxes of approx. 106 ergs/cm2-s and power law spectra in phase space W(k)αksup(-β) for the turbulent Alfven waves (β approx. 0 (white noise) to β approx. 3.5 (Kolmogorov spectra)), and reasonable values for the density and magnetic fields for the atmosphere, produce observed coronal temperatures (approx. 106 K) and ejection velocities (> approx. 100km/s). When the heating is impulsive, as in solar flares, the predicted time interval between the hard X-ray burst and the microwave burst is approx. 0.1 - 1 second, as observed. (author)