title: Recent advances in coronal heating.
abstract: The solar corona, the tenuous outer atmosphere of the Sun, is orders of magnitude hotter than the solar surface. This 'coronal heating problem' requires the identification of a heat source to balance losses due to thermal conduction, radiation and (in some locations) convection. The review papers in this Theo Murphy meeting issue present an overview of recent observational findings, large- and small-scale numerical modelling of physical processes occurring in the solar atmosphere and other aspects which may affect our understanding of the proposed heating mechanisms. At the same time, they also set out the directions and challenges which must be tackled by future research. In this brief introduction, we summarize some of the issues and themes which reoccur throughout this issue.
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews KY16 9SS, UK ineke.demoortel@st-andrews.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Ineke
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: De Moortel
authors.affiliation: Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
authors.forename: Philippa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Browning
keywords: Sun; chromosphere; corona; magnetic fields; magnetohydrodynamic waves; reconnection