The magnitude of viscous dissipation in strongly stratified two-dimensional convection

Convection in astrophysical systems must be maintained against dissipation. Although the effects of dissipation are often assumed to be negligible, theory suggests that in strongly stratified convecting fluids, the dissipative heating rate can exceed the luminosity carried by convection. Here we explore this possibility using a series of numerical simulations. We consider two-dimensional numerical models of hydrodynamic convection in a Cartesian layer under the anelastic approximation and demonstrate that the dissipative heating rate can indeed exceed the imposed luminosity. We establish a theoretical expression for the ratio of the dissipative heating rate to the luminosity emerging at the upper boundary, in terms only of the depth of the layer and the thermal scale height. In particular, we show that this ratio is independent of the diffusivities and confirm this with a series of numerical simulations. Our results suggest that dissipative heating may significantly alter the internal dynamics of stars and planets.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Differential Rotation and Magnetism in Simulations of Fully Convective Stars

Stars of sufficiently low mass are convective throughout their interiors, and so do not possess an internal boundary layer akin to the solar tachocline. Because that interface figures so prominently in many theories of the solar magnetic dynamo, a widespread expectation had been that fully convective stars would exhibit surface magnetic behavior very different from that realized in more massive stars. Here I describe how recent observations and theoretical models of dynamo action in low-mass stars are partly confirming, and partly confounding, this basic expectation. In particular, I present the results of 3--D MHD simulations of dynamo action by convection in rotating spherical shells that approximate the interiors of 0.3 solar-mass stars at a range of rotation rates. The simulated stars can establish latitudinal differential rotation at their surfaces which is solar-like at ``rapid'' rotation rates (defined within) and anti-solar at slower rotation rates; the differential rotation is greatly reduced by feedback from strong dynamo-generated magnetic fields in some parameter regimes. I argue that this ``flip'' in the sense of differential rotation may be observable in the near future. I also briefly describe how the strength and morphology of the magnetic fields varies with the rotation rate of the simulated star, and show that the maximum magnetic energies attained are compatible with simple scaling arguments.Comment: 9 pages, 2 color figures, to appear in Proc. IAU Symposium 271, "Astrophysical Dynamics: from Stars to Galaxies

Modeling the Rise of Fibril Magnetic Fields in Fully Convective Stars

Many fully convective stars exhibit a wide variety of surface magnetism, including starspots and chromospheric activity. The manner by which bundles of magnetic field traverse portions of the convection zone to emerge at the stellar surface is not especially well understood. In the Solar context, some insight into this process has been gleaned by regarding the magnetism as consisting partly of idealized thin flux tubes (TFT). Here, we present the results of a large set of TFT simulations in a rotating spherical domain of convective flows representative of a 0.3 solar-mass, main-sequence star. This is the first study to investigate how individual flux tubes in such a star might rise under the combined influence of buoyancy, convection, and differential rotation. A time-dependent hydrodynamic convective flow field, taken from separate 3D simulations calculated with the anelastic equations, impacts the flux tube as it rises. Convective motions modulate the shape of the initially buoyant flux ring, promoting localized rising loops. Flux tubes in fully convective stars have a tendency to rise nearly parallel to the rotation axis. However, the presence of strong differential rotation allows some initially low latitude flux tubes of moderate strength to develop rising loops that emerge in the near-equatorial region. Magnetic pumping suppresses the global rise of the flux tube most efficiently in the deeper interior and at lower latitudes. The results of these simulations aim to provide a link between dynamo-generated magnetic fields, fluid motions, and observations of starspots for fully convective stars.Comment: 20 pages, 15 figures, accepted to Astrophysical Journa

Coronal heating in multiple magnetic threads

Context. Heating the solar corona to several million degrees requires the conversion of magnetic energy into thermal energy. In this paper, we investigate whether an unstable magnetic thread within a coronal loop can destabilise a neighbouring magnetic thread. Aims. By running a series of simulations, we aim to understand under what conditions the destabilisation of a single magnetic thread can also trigger a release of energy in a nearby thread. Methods. The 3D magnetohydrodynamics code, Lare3d, is used to simulate the temporal evolution of coronal magnetic fields during a kink instability and the subsequent relaxation process. We assume that a coronal magnetic loop consists of non-potential magnetic threads that are initially in an equilibrium state. Results. The non-linear kink instability in one magnetic thread forms a helical current sheet and initiates magnetic reconnection. The current sheet fragments, and magnetic energy is released throughout that thread. We find that, under certain conditions, this event can destabilise a nearby thread, which is a necessary requirement for starting an avalanche of energy release in magnetic threads. Conclusions. It is possible to initiate an energy release in a nearby, non-potential magnetic thread, because the energy released from one unstable magnetic thread can trigger energy release in nearby threads, provided that the nearby structures are close to marginal stability

Thermal and non-thermal emission from reconnecting twisted coronal loops

Twisted magnetic fields should be ubiquitous in flare-producing active regions where the magnetic fields are strongly non-potential. It has been shown that reconnection in helical magnetic coronal loops results in plasma heating and particle acceleration distributed within a large volume, including the lower coronal and chromospheric sections of the loops. This scenario can be an alternative to the standard flare model, where particles are accelerated only in a small volume located in the upper corona. We use a combination of MHD simulations and test-particle methods, which describe the development of kink instability and magnetic reconnection in twisted coronal loops using resistive compressible MHD, and incorporate atmospheric stratification and large-scale loop curvature. The resulting distributions of hot plasma let us estimate thermal X-ray emission intensities. The electric and magnetic fields obtained are used to calculate electron trajectories using the guiding-centre approximation. These trajectories combined with the MHD plasma density distributions let us deduce synthetic HXR bremsstrahlung intensities. Our simulations emphasise that the geometry of the emission patterns produced by hot plasma in flaring twisted coronal loops can differ from the actual geometry of the underlying magnetic fields. The twist angles revealed by the emission threads (SXR) are consistently lower than the field-line twist present at the onset of the kink-instability. HXR emission due to the interaction of energetic electrons with the stratified background are concentrated at the loop foot-points in these simulations, even though the electrons are accelerated everywhere within the coronal volume of the loop. The maximum of HXR emission consistently precedes that of SXR emission, with the HXR light-curve being approximately proportional to the temporal derivative of the SXR light-curve.Comment: (accepted for publication on A&A

Magnetic processes in astrophysics: theory, simulations, experiments

Copyright © 2014 Taylor & Francis. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an book review published by Taylor & Francis in Geophysical & Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics on 21 October 2014, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/03091929.2014.964919Book Review Magnetic processes in astrophysics: theory, simulations, experiments, by Gunther Rudiger, Rainer Hollerbach, and Leonid L. Kitchatinov, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Boschstr. 12, 69469 Weinheim, Germany, 2013, 356 pp., hardcover (E-book also available) (ISBN 978-3-527-41034-7