Inflows towards active regions and the modulation of the solar cycle: a parameter study

Aims: We aim to investigate how converging flows towards active regions affect the surface transport of magnetic flux, as well as their impact on the generation of the Sun's poloidal field. The inflows constitute a potential non-linear mechanism for the saturation of the global dynamo and may contribute to the modulation of the solar cycle in the Babcock-Leighton framework. Methods: We build a surface flux transport code incorporating a parametrized model of the inflows and run simulations spanning several cycles. We carry out a parameter study to assess how the strength and extension of the inflows affect the build-up of the global dipole field. We also perform simulations with different levels of activity to investigate the potential role of the inflows in the saturation of the global dynamo. Results: We find that the interaction of neighbouring active regions can lead to the occasional formation of single-polarity magnetic flux clumps inconsistent with observations. We propose the darkening caused by pores in areas of high magnetic field strength as a plausible mechanism preventing this flux-clumping. We find that inflows decrease the amplitude of the axial dipole moment by a $\sim30\,\%$, relative to a no-inflows scenario. Stronger (weaker) inflows lead to larger (smaller) reductions of the axial dipole moment. The relative amplitude of the generated axial dipole is about $9\%$ larger after very weak cycles than after very strong cycles. This supports the inflows as a non-linear mechanism capable of saturating the global dynamo and contributing to the modulation of the solar cycle within the Babcock-Leighton framework

Surface flux transport simulations: Effect of inflows toward active regions and random velocities on the evolution of the Sun's large-scale magnetic field

Aims: We aim to determine the effect of converging flows on the evolution of a bipolar magnetic region (BMR), and to investigate the role of these inflows in the generation of poloidal flux. We also discuss whether the flux dispersal due to turbulent flows can be described as a diffusion process. Methods: We developed a simple surface flux transport model based on point-like magnetic concentrations. We tracked the tilt angle, the magnetic flux and the axial dipole moment of a BMR in simulations with and without inflows and compared the results. To test the diffusion approximation, simulations of random walk dispersal of magnetic features were compared against the predictions of the diffusion treatment. Results: We confirm the validity of the diffusion approximation to describe flux dispersal on large scales. We find that the inflows enhance flux cancellation, but at the same time affect the latitudinal separation of the polarities of the bipolar region. In most cases the latitudinal separation is limited by the inflows, resulting in a reduction of the axial dipole moment of the BMR. However, when the initial tilt angle of the BMR is small, the inflows produce an increase in latitudinal separation that leads to an increase in the axial dipole moment in spite of the enhanced flux destruction. This can give rise to a tilt of the BMR even when the BMR was originally aligned parallel to the equator

Planets Transiting Non-Eclipsing Binaries

The majority of binary stars do not eclipse. Current searches for transiting circumbinary planets concentrate on eclipsing binaries, and are therefore restricted to a small fraction of potential hosts. We investigate the concept of finding planets transiting non-eclipsing binaries, whose geometry would require mutually inclined planes. Using an N-body code we explore how the number and sequence of transits vary as functions of observing time and orbital parameters. The concept is then generalised thanks to a suite of simulated circumbinary systems. Binaries are constructed from RV surveys of the solar neighbourhood. They are then populated with orbiting gas giants, drawn from a range of distributions. The binary population is shown to be compatible with the Kepler eclipsing binary catalogue, indicating that the properties of binaries may be as universal as the initial mass function. These synthetic systems produce transiting circumbinary planets occurring on both eclipsing and non-eclipsing binaries. Simulated planets transiting eclipsing binaries are compared with published Kepler detections. We obtain 1) that planets transiting non-eclipsing binaries probably exist in the Kepler data, 2) that observational biases alone cannot account for the observed over-density of circumbinary planets near the stability limit, implying a physical pile-up, and 3) that the distributions of gas giants orbiting single and binary stars are likely different. Estimating the frequency of circumbinary planets is degenerate with the spread in mutual inclination. Only a minimum occurrence rate can be produced, which we find to be compatible with 9%. Searching for inclined circumbinary planets may significantly increase the population of known objects and will test our conclusions. Their existence, or absence, will reveal the true occurrence rate and help develop circumbinary planet formation theories.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures, accepted August 2014 to A&A, minor changes to previous arXiv versio

Quantum phase transition in capacitively coupled double quantum dots

We investigate two equivalent, capacitively coupled semiconducting quantum dots, each coupled to its own lead, in a regime where there are two electrons on the double dot. With increasing interdot coupling a rich range of behavior is uncovered: first a crossover from spin- to charge-Kondo physics, via an intermediate SU(4) state with entangled spin and charge degrees of freedom; followed by a quantum phase transition of Kosterlitz-Thouless type to a non-Fermi liquid `charge-ordered' phase with finite residual entropy and anomalous transport properties. Physical arguments and numerical renormalization group methods are employed to obtain a detailed understanding of the problem.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Nonlinear response of quantum cascade structures

The gain spectrum of a terahertz quantum cascade laser is analysed by a non equilibrium Green's functions approach. Higher harmonics of the response function were retrievable, providing a way to approach nonlinear phenomena in quantum cascade lasers theoretically. Gain is simulated under operation conditions and results are presented both for linear response and strong laser fields. An iterative way of reconstructing the field strength inside the laser cavity at lasing conditions is described using a measured value of the level of the losses of the studied system. Comparison with recent experimental data from time-domain-spectroscopy indicates that the experimental situation is beyond linear response.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures included in text, to appear in Applied Physics Letter