2,800 research outputs found
Line formation in solar granulation: II. The photospheric Fe abundance
The solar photospheric Fe abundance has been determined using realistic ab
initio 3D, time-dependent, hydrodynamical model atmospheres. The study is based
on the excellent agreement between the predicted and observed line profiles
directly rather than equivalent width, since the intrinsic Doppler broadening
from the convective motions and oscillations provide the necessary non-thermal
broadening. Thus, three of the four hotly debated parameters (equivalent
widths, microturbulence and damping enhancement factors) in the center of the
recent solar Fe abundance dispute regarding FeI lines no longer enter the
analysis, leaving the transition probabilities as the main uncertainty. Both
FeI (using the samples of lines of both the Oxford and Kiel studies) and FeII
lines have been investigated, which give consistent results: log FeI = 7.44 +-
0.05 and log FeII = 7.45 +- 0.10. Also the wings of strong FeI lines return
consistent abundances, log FeII = 7.42 +- 0.03, but due to the uncertainties
inherent in analyses of strong lines we give this determination lower weight
than the results from weak and intermediate strong lines. In view of the recent
slight downward revision of the meteoritic Fe abundance log Fe = 7.46 +- 0.01,
the agreement between the meteoritic and photospheric values is very good, thus
appearingly settling the debate over the photospheric Fe abundance from FeI
lines.Comment: Accepted for A&
DISPATCH: A Numerical Simulation Framework for the Exa-scale Era. I. Fundamentals
We introduce a high-performance simulation framework that permits the
semi-independent, task-based solution of sets of partial differential
equations, typically manifesting as updates to a collection of `patches' in
space-time. A hybrid MPI/OpenMP execution model is adopted, where work tasks
are controlled by a rank-local `dispatcher' which selects, from a set of tasks
generally much larger than the number of physical cores (or hardware threads),
tasks that are ready for updating. The definition of a task can vary, for
example, with some solving the equations of ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD),
others non-ideal MHD, radiative transfer, or particle motion, and yet others
applying particle-in-cell (PIC) methods. Tasks do not have to be grid-based,
while tasks that are, may use either Cartesian or orthogonal curvilinear
meshes. Patches may be stationary or moving. Mesh refinement can be static or
dynamic. A feature of decisive importance for the overall performance of the
framework is that time steps are determined and applied locally; this allows
potentially large reductions in the total number of updates required in cases
when the signal speed varies greatly across the computational domain, and
therefore a corresponding reduction in computing time. Another feature is a
load balancing algorithm that operates `locally' and aims to simultaneously
minimise load and communication imbalance. The framework generally relies on
already existing solvers, whose performance is augmented when run under the
framework, due to more efficient cache usage, vectorisation, local
time-stepping, plus near-linear and, in principle, unlimited OpenMP and MPI
scaling.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures. Accepted by MNRA
Cooperative mixing induced surface roughening in bilayer metals: a possible novel surface damage mechanism
Molecular dynamics simulations have been used to study a collective atomic
transport phenomenon by repeated Ar irradiations in the Ti/Pt interfacial
system. The ion-induced injection of surface atoms to the bulk, the ejection of
bulk atoms to the top layers together with surface erosion is strongly enhanced
by interfacial mixing. This process leads to a dense interfacial material, and
broadening of the interface region. The process scales with the relative
difference of the atomic masses. We find that surface roughening and
interfacial mixing is strongly coupled via an enhanced counterflow material
transport normal to the surface which might be a novel surface damage
mechanism. This cooperative phenomenon is active when the bilayer system is
subjected to a high dose ion irradiation (multiple ion irradiations) and leads
to surface cavity growth.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures. accepted in Nucl. Instrum. Meth.
Abundance Analysis of the Halo Giant HD122563 with Three-Dimensional Model Stellar Atmospheres
We present a preliminary local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) abundance
analysis of the template halo red giant HD122563 based on a realistic,
three-dimensional (3D), time-dependent, hydrodynamical model atmosphere of the
very metal-poor star. We compare the results of the 3D analysis with the
abundances derived by means of a standard LTE analysis based on a classical,
1D, hydrostatic model atmosphere of the star. Due to the different upper
photospheric temperature stratifications predicted by 1D and 3D models, we find
large, negative, 3D-1D LTE abundance differences for low-excitation OH and Fe I
lines. We also find trends with lower excitation potential in the derived Fe
LTE abundances from Fe I lines, in both the 1D and 3D analyses. Such trends may
be attributed to the neglected departures from LTE in the spectral line
formation calculations.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, contribution to proceedings for Joint Discussion
10 at the IAU General Assembly, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 200
The effects of numerical resolution on hydrodynamical surface convection simulations and spectral line formation
The computationally demanding nature of radiative-hydrodynamical simulations
of stellar surface convection warrants an investigation of the sensitivity of
the convective structure and spectral synthesis to the numerical resolution and
dimension of the simulations, which is presented here. With too coarse a
resolution the predicted spectral lines tend to be too narrow, reflecting
insufficient Doppler broadening from the convective motions, while at the
currently highest affordable resolution the line shapes have converged
essentially perfectly to the observed profiles. Similar conclusions are drawn
from the line asymmetries and shifts. In terms of abundances, weak FeI and FeII
lines show a very small dependence (~0.02 dex) while for intermediate strong
lines with significant non-thermal broadening the sensitivity increases (~0.10
dex). Problems arise when using 2D convection simulations to describe an
inherent 3D phenomenon, which translates to inaccurate atmospheric velocity
fields and temperature and pressure structures. In 2D the theoretical line
profiles tend to be too shallow and broad compared with the 3D calculations and
observations, in particular for intermediate strong lines. In terms of
abundances, the 2D results are systematically about 0.1 dex lower than for the
3D case for FeI lines. Furthermore, the predicted line asymmetries and shifts
are much inferior in 2D. Given these shortcomings and computing time
considerations it is better to use 3D simulations of even modest resolution
than high-resolution 2D simulations.Comment: Accepted for A&
A simulation of solar convection at supergranulation scale
We present here numerical simulations of surface solar convection which cover
a box of 303.2 Mm with a resolution of
31582, which is used to investigate the dynamics of scales
larger than granulation. No structure resembling supergranulation is present;
possibly higher Reynolds numbers (i.e. higher numerical resolution), or
magnetic fields, or greater depth are necessary. The results also show
interesting aspects of granular dynamics which are briefly presented, like
extensive p-mode ridges in the k- diagram and a ringlike distribution
of horizontal vorticity around granules. At large scales, the horizontal
velocity is much larger than the vertical velocity and the vertical motion is
dominated by p-mode oscillations.Comment: Contribution to the proceedings of the workshop entitled "THEMIS and
the new frontiers of solar atmosphere dynamics" (March 2001), 6 pages, to
appear in Nuovo Cimento
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