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There is observational evidence of the presence of small-amplitude transversemagnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves with a wide range of frequencies in the threadsof solar prominences. It is believed that the waves are driven at thephotosphere and propagate along the magnetic field lines up to prominencessuspended in the corona. The dissipation of MHD wave energy in the partiallyionized prominence plasma is a heating mechanism whose relevance needs to beexplored. Here we consider a simple 1D model for a non-uniform thin thread andinvestigate the heating associated with dissipation of Alfven waves. The modelassumes an ad hoc density profile and a uniform pressure, while the temperatureand ionization degree are self-consistently computed considering either LTE ornon-LTE approximations for the hydrogen ionization. A broadband driver forAlfven waves is placed at one end of the magnetic field line, representingphotospheric excitation. The Alfvenic perturbations along the thread areobtained by solving the linearized MHD equations for a partially ionized plasmain the single-fluid approximation.We find that wave heating in the partiallyionized part of the thread is significant enough to compensate for energylosses due to radiative cooling. A greater amount of heating is found in theLTE case because the ionization degree for core prominence temperatures islower than that in the non-LTE approximation. This results in a greater levelof dissipation due to ambipolar diffusion in the LTE case. Conversely, in thehot coronal part of the model, the plasma is fully ionized and wave heating isnegligible. The results of this simple model suggest that MHD wave heating canbe relevant for the energy balance in prominences. Further studies based onmore elaborate models are required.

Alfven wave heating in partially ionized thin threads of solar prominences