Bio
Giuseppe Nisticò has been an Associate Professor at the Department of Physics of the University of Calabria since 2023. He received his PhD in Physics of Complex Systems from the same university in 2011 and has conducted postdoctoral research in Germany and the United Kingdom. His scientific activity focuses on solar and coronal physics, including the study of coronal jets, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves, plasma turbulence, and coronal seismology. These topics are addressed through observational approaches—using data from space missions such as SoHO, STEREO, SDO, PSP, and SolO—as well as theoretical models and three-dimensional simulations. He has authored over 40 publications in peer-reviewed journals, and his work has received over 1,800 citations. Awards received include the Rita Levi Montalcini Research Fellowship, a COSPAR Committee Award, and the NASA Group Achievement Award given to the Parker Solar Probe team.

Talk
Title: Decayless Transverse Oscillations in Coronal Loops: Linking High-Resolution Observations and MURaM Simulations Abstract: Decayless kink oscillations are frequently observed in solar coronal loops, yet their physical origin remains unresolved. Several possible drivers have been proposed, but direct observational evidence remains inconclusive. In this talk, I will examine the observational constraints on these proposed drivers using high-resolution data from Solar Orbiter and SDO. I will present a stereoscopic view of decayless kink oscillations and discuss how this perspective reveals previously inaccessible aspects of their geometry and dynamics. I will then compare these observational results with a self-consistent 3D MHD simulation of a coronal loop performed with MURaM. This comparison highlights the importance of looking beyond standard intensity and displacement diagnostics, and instead using less conventional proxies, such as wave polarization, to constrain the nature of the driving mechanism.

Bio
Sudip Mandal is a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Göttingen, Germany. His research centers on waves and oscillations in the solar atmosphere, with particular emphasis on their excitation and propagation. He integrates high-resolution observations from Solar Orbiter and other space missions with numerical simulations to examine the physical processes that govern the Sun’s outer atmosphere. As a Co-Investigator of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager onboard Solar Orbiter, he also contributes to the planning of Solar Orbiter observing campaigns.

Talk
Title: Modelling Magnetohydrodynamic Waves in Streamers: First Comparison with Metis Observations Abstract: Magnetohydrodynamic waves are often regarded as efficient pathways for magnetic energy transfer from the solar interior and serve as useful diagnostic tools. While Alfvén wave modes can be difficult to detect directly by remote sensing—due to their incompressive nature—magnetoacoustic wave modes perturb the density and temperature as they propagate. Recently, observations from the Metis coronagraph on board Solar Orbiter have shown the ubiquitous presence of propagating density fluctuations in helmet streamers and pseudo-streamers with a 5-min period. Using 2.5D MHD simulations, we find that such density fluctuations can be generated either from non-linear Alfvén waves or directly from magnetoacoustic waves. Furthermore, density fluctuations generated from Alfvén waves have a doubled frequency with respect to the driven Alfvén wave frequency because of non-linear ponderomotive forces. In general, we find that in a low-β region, the dominant contribution to the density fluctuations is from slow waves propagating along the magnetic field. In a high-β region, the density fluctuations are likely associated with a mixture of both slow and fast waves. Additional simulations reveal key differences in the propagation of density fluctuations between helmet streamers and pseudo-streamers, in terms of wave interference, the presence of a null point, and the structure of the high-β region.

Bio
Dr. Anmol Kumar has recently finished his PhD from the University of St Andrews, UK. His doctoral research involved the modelling of MHD waves in an extended solar atmosphere, thus studying their evolution, propagation and the formation of small-scale structure. Before moving to St Andrews, he did a 5-year BS-MS Dual Degree Programme in Physics from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata, India. In the final year of this programme, he worked on a statistical survey of switchbacks and the solar wind, thus investigating their key characteristics and potential role in solar wind acceleration.

Talk
Title: Observations and Modeling of Quasi-periodic Fast Magnetosonic Waves in Coronal Active Regions Abstract: Quasi-periodic flare pulsations and associated MHD wave events are often observed in high-resolution EUV instruments and provide important insights in coronal active regions (AR) magnetic structure. I will present EUV observations from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and Advanced Imaging Spectrometer (AIA), complemented by data from other space-based telescopes of fast propagating quasi-period wave (QFPs) events. The study of QFPs provide a new tool for diagnostic of coronal ARs. I will present and discuss the outcomes of MHD modeling of these events with realistic AR magnetic structure, and the impact on coronal seismology. Furthermore, I will discuss the significance of the energetic connection between quasi-periodic flare energy release, wave dissipation, and the coronal heating process.

Bio
Prof. Leon Ofman received his B.Sc. in Physics in 1986 and M.Sc. in Physics in 1988 from Tel Aviv University, Israel, and his Ph.D. in Physics in 1992 from the University of Texas at Austin. He held National Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associateship at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from 1992 to 1994. Since 1994 Prof. Ofman continued working at NASA GSFC, as a contractor via Hughes and Raytheon corporations, and in 2001 he became a Research Associate Professor at Catholic University of America, Associate Professor (2005-2007), and a university affiliate at NASA GSFC to present. From 2007 Prof. Ofman became Visiting Associate Professor at Tel Aviv University. In 2009 Prof. Ofman became Research Professor at CUA’s Department of Physics and Institute for Astrophysics and Computational Sciences (IACS). His main research interests are in solar plasma physics, MHD, waves and instabilities, and kinetic processes related to coronal heating and solar wind acceleration. His main expertise is in numerical modeling of the solar coronal and wind plasma, driven by space based observations. Prof. Ofman has authored and coauthored over 150 publications in solar physics and related fields in refereed journals, and in conference proceeding. Prof. Ofman is the Principal Investigator on NASA and NSF grants supervising postdocs and students that work in solar physics. Prof. Ofman was a member of NASA Science Definition Team for the Solar Probe Plus mission. He is serving as a referee for leading journals in the field, and a reviewer for US and international science funding agencies. Prof. Ofman is a member of the AAS/SPD, AGU, IAU, and COSPAR.