Phase mixing
The easiest way to explain phase mixing is to use another familiar example.
On a guitar
there are 6 strings of same length but different thickness. If we strike all
the strings with the same beat they will produce different sounds.
This is because the strings vibrate with different frequencies due to their
different density and tension. The thick
string vibrates more slowly while the thin string
vibrates faster. The same is the
case for magnetic field lines.
At the positions where the different coloured strings
are farthest from one another
a magnetic field would experience large tensions, and
strong currents would be present.
These are the positions
where it is possible to release
the wave energy in the magnetic field and
to heat the corona.
