Where Do Periodic Density Structures Acquire Coherence? A Low-Coronal Resonator Candidate and a 12-Event STEREO/SECCHI Transfer Test

Abstract: Periodic density structures (PDS) are trains of plasma enhancements carried into the heliosphere, but their repeated timing does not by itself identify where the cadence is set. We test whether PDS selected independently in the outer corona can be traced back to a low-coronal clock, and whether that organization survives through the EUVI--COR1--COR2 observing chain. We analyze 12 STEREO-A/SECCHI events on 2008 January 11--14 along a nonradial path. EUVI 171 A at 1.10--1.20 R_sun shows an unusual concentration of power in the predeclared 80--130 minute band relative to filter-matched red-noise controls, while the ensemble is most strongly organized in upper COR1 at 2.5--3.0 R_sun. These signatures identify a low-coronal modulation candidate and an intermediate-height organization domain, but they do not form a unique phase-preserving clock extending into COR2. Instead, the more persistent observable is spatial order. Events 9 and 12 retain expansion-stable outward ordering. In polar r--theta maps, intersections of oppositely inclined, expansion-aware matched-filter ridge supports form repeated X-/diamond-like patterns. The morphology is compatible with stationary or quasi-stationary shock-cell processing, although the brightness diagnostics are insufficient to establish a stationary MHD shock branch. The observations therefore favor an intermittent source--gate--transfer picture: a low-coronal cadence may modulate plasma release, while event-dependent propagation progressively destroys exact phase coherence. The outward ordering of the density structures can survive, providing a more persistent signature of the source-to-wind transfer than phase locking itself.