The operation of the solar global dynamo appears to involve many dynamical elements, including the generation of fields by the intense turbulence of the deep convection zone, the transport of these fields into the tachocline region near the base of the convection zone, the storage and amplification of toroidal fields in the tachocline by differential rotation, and the destabilization and emergence of such fields due to magnetic buoyancy. Self-consistent magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations that realistically incorporate all of these processes are not yet computationally feasible, although some elements can now be studied with reasonable fidelity. Here we consider the manner in which turbulent compressible convection within the bulk of the solar convection zone can generate large-scale magnetic fields through dynamo action. We accomplish this through a series of threedimensional numerical simulations of MHD convection within rotating spherical shells using our anelastic spherical harmonic (ASH) code on massively parallel supercomputers. Since differential rotation is a key ingredient in all dynamo models, we also examine here the nature of the rotation profiles that can be sustained within the deep convection zone as strong magnetic fields are built and maintained. We find that the convection is able to maintain a solar-like angular velocity profile despite the influence of Maxwell stresses, which tend to oppose Reynolds stresses and thus reduce the latitudinal angular velocity contrast throughout the convection zone. The dynamo-generated magnetic fields exhibit a complex structure and evolution, with radial fields concentrated in downflow lanes and toroidal fields organized into twisted ribbons that are extended in longitude and achieve field strengths of up to 5000 G. The flows and fields exhibit substantial kinetic and magnetic helicity although systematic hemispherical patterns are only apparent in the former. Fluctuating fields dominate the magnetic energy and account for most of the back-reaction on the flow via Lorentz forces. Mean fields are relatively weak and do not exhibit systematic latitudinal propagation or periodic polarity reversals as in the Sun. This may be attributed to the absence of a tachocline, i.e., a penetrative boundary layer between the convection zone and the deeper radiative interior possessing strong rotational shear. The influence of such a layer will await subsequent studies. Subject headingg s: convection -MHD -Sun: magnetic fields -turbulence TURBULENT MAGNETIC SUNThe Sun is a magnetic star whose variable activity has profound effects on our technological society on Earth. The highspeed solar wind and its energetic particles, coronal mass ejections, and explosive flares are all linked to the changing magnetic fields within the extended solar atmosphere. Such events can serve to damage satellites in space and power grids on the ground and interrupt communications. Thus, there is keen interest in being able to forecast the behavior of the magnetic structures. Yet this has ...
To better understand the observed distributions of rotation rate and magnetic activity of sunlike and low-mass stars, we derive a physically motivated scaling for the dependence of the stellarwind torque on Rossby number. The torque also contains an empirically-derived scaling with stellar mass (and radius), which provides new insight into the mass-dependence of stellar magnetic and wind properties. We demonstrate that this new formulation explains why the lowest mass stars are observed to maintain rapid rotation for much longer than solar-mass stars, and simultaneously, why older populations exhibit a sequence of slowly rotating stars, in which the low-mass stars rotate more slowly than solar-mass stars. The model also reproduces some previously unexplained features in the period-mass diagram for the Kepler field, notably: the particular shape of the "upper envelope" of the distribution, suggesting that ∼ 95% of Kepler field stars with measured rotation periods are younger than ∼4 Gyr; and the shape of the "lower envelope," corresponding to the location where stars transition between magnetically saturated and unsaturated regimes.
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