157 research outputs found
Evolution of helicity in NOAA 10923 over three consecutive solar rotations
We have studied the evolution of magnetic helicity and chirality in an active
region over three consecutive solar rotations. The region when it first
appeared was named NOAA10923 and in subsequent rotations it was numbered NOAA
10930, 10935 and 10941. We compare the chirality of these regions at
photospheric, chromospheric and coronal heights. The observations used for
photospheric and chromospheric heights are taken from Solar Vector Magnetograph
(SVM) and H_alpha imaging telescope of Udaipur Solar Observatory (USO),
respectively. We discuss the chirality of the sunspots and associated H_alpha
filaments in these regions. We find that the twistedness of superpenumbral
filaments is maintained in the photospheric transverse field vectors also. We
also compare the chirality at photospheric and chromospheric heights with the
chirality of the associated coronal loops, as observed from the HINODE X-Ray
Telescope.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Nonlinear Alpha Effect in Dynamo Theory
We extend the standard two-scale theory of the turbulent dynamo coefficient
to include the nonlinear back reaction of the mean field on
the turbulence. We calculate the turbulent emf as a power series in ,
assuming that the base state of the turbulence () is isotropic, and,
for simplicity, that the magnetic diffusivity equals the kinematic viscosity.
The power series converges for all , and for the special case that the
spectrum of the turbulence is sharply peaked in , our result is proportional
to a tabulated function of the magnetic Reynolds number and the ratio
of (in velocity units) to the rms turbulent velocity .
For (linear regime) we recover the results of Steenbeck et al.
(1966) as modified by Pouquet et al. (1976). For , the usual
astrophysical case, starts to decrease at , dropping
like as . Hence for large ,
saturates at , as estimated by Kraichnan (1979), rather than at
, as inferred by Cattaneo and Hughes (1996) from
their numerical simulations at =100. We plan to carry out simulations with
various values of to investigate the discrepency.Comment: 41 pages, 1 Postscript figure, accepted for publication to Ap
Uniqueness of the compactly supported weak solutions of the relativistic Vlasov-Darwin system
We use optimal transportation techniques to show uniqueness of the compactly
supported weak solutions of the relativistic Vlasov-Darwin system. Our proof
extends the method used by Loeper in J. Math. Pures Appl. 86, 68-79 (2006) to
obtain uniqueness results for the Vlasov-Poisson system.Comment: AMS-LaTeX, 21 page
Cross helicity and turbulent magnetic diffusivity in the solar convection zone
In a density-stratified turbulent medium the cross helicity is
considered as a result of the interaction of the velocity fluctuations and a
large-scale magnetic field. By means of a quasilinear theory and by numerical
simulations we find the cross helicity and the mean vertical magnetic field
anti-correlated. In the high-conductivity limit the ratio of the helicity and
the mean magnetic field equals the ratio of the magnetic eddy diffusivity and
the (known) density scale height. The result can be used to predict that the
cross helicity at the solar surface exceeds the value of 1 Gauss km/s. Its sign
is anti-correlated with that of the radial mean magnetic field. Alternatively,
we can use our result to determine the value of the turbulent magnetic
diffusivity from observations of the cross helicity.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Solar Physic
Emission heights of coronal bright points on Fe XII radiance map
We study the emission heights of the coronal bright points (BPs) above the
photosphere in the bipolar magnetic loops that are apparently associated with
them. As BPs are seen in projection against the disk their true emission
heights are unknown. The correlation of the BP locations on the Fe XII radiance
map from EIT with the magnetic field features (in particular neutral lines) was
investigated in detail. The coronal magnetic field was determined by an
extrapolation of the photospheric field to different altitudes above the disk.
It was found that most BPs sit on or near a photospheric neutral line, but that
the emission occurs at a height of about 5 Mm. Some BPs, while being seen in
projection, still seem to coincide with neutral lines, although their emission
takes place at heights of more than 10 Mm. Such coincidences almost disappear
for emissions above 20 Mm. We also projected the upper segments of the 3-D
magnetic field lines above different heights, respectively, on to the x-y
plane. The shape of each BP was compared with the respective field-line segment
nearby. This comparison suggests that most coronal BPs are actually located on
the top of their associated magnetic loops. Finally, we calculated for each
selected BP region the correlation coefficient between the Fe XII intensity
enhancement and the horizontal component of the extrapolated magnetic field
vector at the same x-y position in planes of different heights, respectively.
We found that for almost all the BP regions we studied the correlation
coefficient, with increasing height, increases to a maximal value and then
decreases again. The height corresponding to this maximum was defined as the
correlation height, which for most bright points was found to range below 20
Mm.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Comparing magnetic field extrapolations with measurements of magnetic loops
We compare magnetic field extrapolations from a photospheric magnetogram with
the observationally inferred structure of magnetic loops in a newly developed
active region. This is the first time that the reconstructed 3D-topology of the
magnetic field is available to test the extrapolations. We compare the
observations with potential fields, linear force-free fields and non-linear
force-free fields. This comparison reveals that a potential field extrapolation
is not suitable for a reconstruction of the magnetic field in this young,
developing active region. The inclusion of field-line-parallel electric
currents, the so called force-free approach, gives much better results.
Furthermore, a non-linear force-free computation reproduces the observations
better than the linear force-free approximation, although no free parameters
are available in the former case.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Evolution of turbulent spots in a parallel shear flow
The evolution of turbulent spots in a parallel shear flow is studied by means
of full three-dimensional numerical simulations. The flow is bounded by free
surfaces and driven by a volume force. Three regions in the spanwise spot
cross-section can be identified: a turbulent interior, an interface layer with
prominent streamwise streaks and vortices and a laminar exterior region with a
large scale flow induced by the presence of the spot. The lift-up of streamwise
streaks which is caused by non-normal amplification is clearly detected in the
region adjacent to the spot interface. The spot can be characterized by an
exponentially decaying front that moves with a speed different from that of the
cross-stream outflow or the spanwise phase velocity of the streamwise roll
pattern. Growth of the spots seems to be intimately connected to the large
scale outside flow, for a turbulent ribbon extending across the box in
downstream direction does not show the large scale flow and does not grow.
Quantitatively, the large scale flow induces a linear instability in the
neighborhood of the spot, but the associated front velocity is too small to
explain the spot spreading.Comment: 10 pages, 10 Postscript figure
How to use magnetic field information for coronal loop identification?
The structure of the solar corona is dominated by the magnetic field because
the magnetic pressure is about four orders of magnitude higher than the plasma
pressure. Due to the high conductivity the emitting coronal plasma (visible
e.g. in SOHO/EIT) outlines the magnetic field lines. The gradient of the
emitting plasma structures is significantly lower parallel to the magnetic
field lines than in the perpendicular direction. Consequently information
regarding the coronal magnetic field can be used for the interpretation of
coronal plasma structures. We extrapolate the coronal magnetic field from
photospheric magnetic field measurements into the corona. The extrapolation
method depends on assumptions regarding coronal currents, e.g. potential fields
(current free) or force-free fields (current parallel to magnetic field). As a
next step we project the reconstructed 3D magnetic field lines on an EIT-image
and compare with the emitting plasma structures. Coronal loops are identified
as closed magnetic field lines with a high emissivity in EIT and a small
gradient of the emissivity along the magnetic field.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure
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