  The solar corona is a hot, dynamic, and highly magnetized plasma environment
whose source of energy is not yet well understood. One leading contender for
that energy source is the dissipation of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves or
turbulent fluctuations. Many wave-heating models for the corona and the solar
wind presume that these fluctuations originate at or below the Sun's
photosphere. However, this paper investigates the idea that magnetic
reconnection may generate an additional source of MHD waves over a gradual
range of heights in the low corona. A time-dependent Monte Carlo simulation of
the mixed-polarity magnetic field is used to predict the properties of
reconnection-driven coronal MHD waves. The total power in these waves is
typically small in comparison to that of photosphere-driven waves, but their
frequencies are much lower. Reconnection-driven waves begin to dominate the
total power spectrum at periods longer than about 30 minutes. Thus, they may
need to be taken into account in order to understand the low-frequency
power-law spectra observed by both coronal spectropolarimetry and in-situ
particle/field instruments. These low-frequency Alfven waves should carry more
magnetic energy than kinetic energy, and thus they may produce less nonthermal
Doppler broadening (in comparison to photosphere-driven high-frequency waves)
in emission lines observed above the solar limb.
