Near-surface stellar magneto-convection: simulations for the Sun and a metal-poor solar analog

We present 2D local box simulations of near-surface radiative magneto-convection with prescribed magnetic flux, carried out with the MHD version of the CO5BOLD code for the Sun and a solar-like star with a metal-poor chemical composition (metal abundances reduced by a factor 100, [M/H]=-2). The resulting magneto-hydrodynamical models can be used to study the influence of the metallicity on the properties of magnetized stellar atmospheres. A preliminary analysis indicates that the horizontal magnetic field component tends to be significantly stronger in the optically thin layers of metal-poor stellar atmospheres.Comment: Proc. IAU Symposium 259, Cosmic Magnetic Fields: from Planets, to Stars and Galaxies, K.G. Strassmeier, A.G. Kosovichev and J.E. Beckman, eds. (2009) p.23

Magneto-convection in a sunspot umbra

Results from a realistic simulation of 3D radiative magneto-convection in a strong background magnetic field corresponding to the conditions in sunspot umbrae are shown. The convective energy transport is dominated by narrow upflow plumes with adjacent downflows, which become almost field-free near the surface layers. The strong external magnetic field forces the plumes to assume a cusp-like shape in their top parts, where the upflowing plasma loses its buoyancy. The resulting bright features in intensity images correspond well (in terms of brightness, size, and lifetime) to the observed umbral dots in the central parts of sunspot umbrae. Most of the simulated umbral dots have a horizontally elongated form with a central dark lane. Above the cusp, most plumes show narrow upflow jets, which are driven by the pressure of the piled-up plasma below. The large velocities and low field strengths in the plumes are effectively screened from spectroscopic observation because the surfaces of equal optical depth are locally elevated, so that spectral lines are largely formed above the cusp. Our simulations demonstrate that nearly field-free upflow plumes and umbral dots are a natural result of convection in a strong, initially monolithic magnetic field.Comment: Accepted by Astrophysical Journal Letter

Stokes Diagnostis of 2D MHD-simulated Solar Magnetogranulation

We study the properties of solar magnetic fields on scales less than the spatial resolution of solar telescopes. A synthetic infrared spectropolarimetric diagnostics based on a 2D MHD simulation of magnetoconvection is used for this. We analyze two time sequences of snapshots that likely represent two regions of the network fields with their immediate surrounding on the solar surface with the unsigned magnetic flux density of 300 and 140 G. In the first region we find from probability density functions of the magnetic field strength that the most probable field strength at logtau_5=0 is equal to 250 G. Weak fields (B < 500 G) occupy about 70% of the surface, while stronger fields (B 1000 G) occupy only 9.7% of the surface. The magnetic flux is -28 G and its imbalance is -0.04. In the second region, these parameters are correspondingly equal to 150 G, 93.3 %, 0.3 %, -40 G, and -0.10. We estimate the distribution of line-of-sight velocities on the surface of log tau_5=-1. The mean velocity is equal to 0.4 km/s in the first simulated region. The averaged velocity in the granules is -1.2 km/s and in the intergranules is 2.5 km/s. In the second region, the corresponding values of the mean velocities are equal to 0, -1.8, 1.5 km/s. In addition we analyze the asymmetry of synthetic Stokes-V profiles of the Fe I 1564.8 nm line. The mean values of the amplitude and area asymmetry do not exceed 1%. The spatially smoothed amplitude asymmetry is increased to 10% while the area asymmetry is only slightly varied.Comment: 24 pages, 12 figure

Magnetic Coupling in the Quiet Solar Atmosphere

Three kinds of magnetic couplings in the quiet solar atmosphere are highlighted and discussed, all fundamentally connected to the Lorentz force. First the coupling of the convecting and overshooting fluid in the surface layers of the Sun with the magnetic field. Here, the plasma motion provides the dominant force, which shapes the magnetic field and drives the surface dynamo. Progress in the understanding of the horizontal magnetic field is summarized and discussed. Second, the coupling between acoustic waves and the magnetic field, in particular the phenomenon of wave conversion and wave refraction. It is described how measurements of wave travel times in the atmosphere can provide information about the topography of the wave conversion zone, i.e., the surface of equal Alfv\'en and sound speed. In quiet regions, this surface separates a highly dynamic magnetic field with fast moving magnetosonic waves and shocks around and above it from the more slowly evolving field of high-beta plasma below it. Third, the magnetic field also couples to the radiation field, which leads to radiative flux channeling and increased anisotropy in the radiation field. It is shown how faculae can be understood in terms of this effect. The article starts with an introduction to the magnetic field of the quiet Sun in the light of new results from the Hinode space observatory and with a brief survey of measurements of the turbulent magnetic field with the help of the Hanle effect.Comment: To appear in "Magnetic Coupling between the Interior and the Atmosphere of the Sun", eds. S.S. Hasan and R.J. Rutten, Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Berlin, 200

Stochastic excitation of acoustic modes in stars

For more than ten years, solar-like oscillations have been detected and frequencies measured for a growing number of stars with various characteristics (e.g. different evolutionary stages, effective temperatures, gravities, metal abundances ...). Excitation of such oscillations is attributed to turbulent convection and takes place in the uppermost part of the convective envelope. Since the pioneering work of Goldreich & Keely (1977), more sophisticated theoretical models of stochastic excitation were developed, which differ from each other both by the way turbulent convection is modeled and by the assumed sources of excitation. We review here these different models and their underlying approximations and assumptions. We emphasize how the computed mode excitation rates crucially depend on the way turbulent convection is described but also on the stratification and the metal abundance of the upper layers of the star. In turn we will show how the seismic measurements collected so far allow us to infer properties of turbulent convection in stars.Comment: Notes associated with a lecture given during the fall school organized by the CNRS and held in St-Flour (France) 20-24 October 2008 ; 39 pages ; 11 figure

Small-scale solar magnetic fields

As we resolve ever smaller structures in the solar atmosphere, it has become clear that magnetism is an important component of those small structures. Small-scale magnetism holds the key to many poorly understood facets of solar magnetism on all scales, such as the existence of a local dynamo, chromospheric heating, and flux emergence, to name a few. Here, we review our knowledge of small-scale photospheric fields, with particular emphasis on quiet-sun field, and discuss the implications of several results obtained recently using new instruments, as well as future prospects in this field of research.Comment: 43 pages, 18 figure

The Imaging Magnetograph eXperiment (IMaX) for the Sunrise balloon-borne solar observatory

The Imaging Magnetograph eXperiment (IMaX) is a spectropolarimeter built by four institutions in Spain that flew on board the Sunrise balloon-borne telesocope in June 2009 for almost six days over the Arctic Circle. As a polarimeter IMaX uses fast polarization modulation (based on the use of two liquid crystal retarders), real-time image accumulation, and dual beam polarimetry to reach polarization sensitivities of 0.1%. As a spectrograph, the instrument uses a LiNbO3 etalon in double pass and a narrow band pre-filter to achieve a spectral resolution of 85 mAA. IMaX uses the high Zeeman sensitive line of Fe I at 5250.2 AA and observes all four Stokes parameters at various points inside the spectral line. This allows vector magnetograms, Dopplergrams, and intensity frames to be produced that, after reconstruction, reach spatial resolutions in the 0.15-0.18 arcsec range over a 50x50 arcsec FOV. Time cadences vary between ten and 33 seconds, although the shortest one only includes longitudinal polarimetry. The spectral line is sampled in various ways depending on the applied observing mode, from just two points inside the line to 11 of them. All observing modes include one extra wavelength point in the nearby continuum. Gauss equivalent sensitivities are four Gauss for longitudinal fields and 80 Gauss for transverse fields per wavelength sample. The LOS velocities are estimated with statistical errors of the order of 5-40 m/s. The design, calibration and integration phases of the instrument, together with the implemented data reduction scheme are described in some detail.Comment: 17 figure

Horizontal Magnetic Fields in the Solar Photosphere

The results of 2D MHD simulations of solar magnetogranulation are used to analyze the horizontal magnetic fields and the response of the synthesized Stokes profiles of the FeI 1564.85 nm line to the magnetic fields. Selected 1.5-h series of the 2D MHD models reproduces a region of the network fields with their immediate surrounding on the solar surface with the unsigned magnetic flux density of 192 G. According to the magnetic field distribution obtained, the most probable absolute strength of the horizontal magnetic field at an optical depth of tau_5 = 1 (tau_5 denotes tau at lambda = 500 nm) is 50 G, while the mean value is 244 G. On average, the horizontal magnetic fields are stronger than the vertical fields to heights of about 400 km in the photosphere due to their higher density and the larger area they occupy. The maximum factor by which the horizontal fields are greater is 1.5. Strong horizontal magnetic flux tubes emerge at the surface as spots with field strengths of more than 500 G. These are smaller than granules in size, and have lifetimes of 3.6 min. They form in the photosphere due to the expulsion of magnetic fields by convective flows coming from deep subphotospheric layers. The data obtained qualitatively agree with observations with the Hinode space observatory.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, published by Astronomicheskii Zhurnal (in Russian) and Astronomy Reports (in English

Radiative Cooling in MHD Models of the Quiet Sun Convection Zone and Corona

We present a series of numerical simulations of the quiet Sun plasma threaded by magnetic fields that extend from the upper convection zone into the low corona. We discuss an efficient, simplified approximation to the physics of optically thick radiative transport through the surface layers, and investigate the effects of convective turbulence on the magnetic structure of the Sun's atmosphere in an initially unipolar (open field) region. We find that the net Poynting flux below the surface is on average directed toward the interior, while in the photosphere and chromosphere the net flow of electromagnetic energy is outward into the solar corona. Overturning convective motions between these layers driven by rapid radiative cooling appears to be the source of energy for the oppositely directed fluxes of electromagnetic energy.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, Solar Physics, in pres