Spectroscopic detection of coronal plasma flows in loops undergoing thermal non-equilibrium cycles

Abstract

Context. Long-period intensity pulsations were recently detected in the EUV emission of coronal loops and attributed to cycles of plasma evaporation and condensation driven by thermal non-equilibrium (TNE). Numerical simulations that reproduce this phenomenon also predict the formation of periodic flows of plasma at coronal temperatures along some of the pulsating loops. Aims. We aim to detect these predicted flows of coronal-temperature plasma in pulsating loops. Methods. We used time series of spatially resolved spectra from the EUV imaging spectrometer (EIS) onboard Hinode and tracked the evolution of the Doppler velocity in loops in which intensity pulsations have previously been detected in images of SDO/AIA. Results. We measured signatures of flows that are compatible with the simulations but only for a fraction of the observed events. We demonstrate that this low detection rate can be explained by line of sight ambiguities combined with instrumental limitations, such as low signal-to-noise ratio or insufficient cadence.