Dynamics and spectroscopy of asymmetrically heated coronal loops
Numerical models of steady flows along coronal magnetic flux tubes of varying cross sectional areas are investigated. The flows are induced by altering the spatial symmetry of the heating. In two cases the flux tube geometry is symmetric about the top of the loop, but the spatial dependence of the heating rate is changed from a symmetric deposition which supports a stationary equilibrium to a time-independent asymmetric deposition. In a third case the volumetric heating rate is uniform, but one half of the loop is larger in volume than the other. The resulting velocity structure varies significantly with changes in the flux tube geometry. Calculations of the ionization balance and line emission for a number of ionization stages of oxygen suggest that heating induced flows may be responsible for the redshifts seen in spectral lines formed in the network at transition region temperatures.