Test-field method for mean-field coefficients with MHD background

Aims: The test-field method for computing turbulent transport coefficients from simulations of hydromagnetic flows is extended to the regime with a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) background. Methods: A generalized set of test equations is derived using both the induction equation and a modified momentum equation. By employing an additional set of auxiliary equations, we derive linear equations describing the response of the system to a set of prescribed test fields. Purely magnetic and MHD backgrounds are emulated by applying an electromotive force in the induction equation analogously to the ponderomotive force in the momentum equation. Both forces are chosen to have Roberts flow-like geometry. Results: Examples with an MHD background are studied where the previously used quasi-kinematic test-field method breaks down. In cases with homogeneous mean fields it is shown that the generalized test-field method produces the same results as the imposed-field method, where the field-aligned component of the actual electromotive force from the simulation is used. Furthermore, results for the turbulent diffusivity tensor are given, which are inaccessible to the imposed-field method. For MHD backgrounds, new mean-field effects are found that depend on the occurrence of cross-correlations between magnetic and velocity fluctuations. For strong imposed fields, $\alpha$ is found to be quenched proportional to the fourth power of the field strength, regardless of the type of background studied.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysic

Properties of pp- and ff-modes in hydromagnetic turbulence

With the ultimate aim of using the fundamental or $f$-mode to study helioseismic aspects of turbulence-generated magnetic flux concentrations, we use randomly forced hydromagnetic simulations of a piecewise isothermal layer in two dimensions with reflecting boundaries at top and bottom. We compute numerically diagnostic wavenumber-frequency diagrams of the vertical velocity at the interface between the denser gas below and the less dense gas above. For an Alfv\'en-to-sound speed ratio of about 0.1, a 5% frequency increase of the $f$-mode can be measured when $k_xH_{\rm p}=3$-$4$, where $k_x$ is the horizontal wavenumber and $H_{\rm p}$ is the pressure scale height at the surface. Since the solar radius is about 2000 times larger than $H_{\rm p}$, the corresponding spherical harmonic degree would be 6000-8000. For weaker fields, a $k_x$-dependent frequency decrease by the turbulent motions becomes dominant. For vertical magnetic fields, the frequency is enhanced for $k_xH_{\rm p}\approx4$, but decreased relative to its nonmagnetic value for $k_xH_{\rm p}\approx9$.Comment: 17 pages, 22 figures, Version accepted in MNRA

Comment on ``The linear instability of magnetic Taylor-Couette flow with Hall effect''

In the paper we comment on (R\"udiger & Shalybkov, Phys. Rev. E. 69, 016303 (2004) (RS)), the instability of the Taylor--Couette flow interacting with a homogeneous background field subject to Hall effect is studied. We correct a falsely generalizing interpretation of results presented there which could be taken to disprove the existence of the Hall--drift induced magnetic instability described in Rheinhardt and Geppert, Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 101103. It is shown that in contrast to what is suggested by RS, no additional shear flow is necessary to enable such an instability with a non--potential magnetic background field, whereas for a curl--free one it is. In the latter case, the instabilities found in RS in situations where neither a hydrodynamic nor a magneto--rotational instability exists are demonstrated to be most likely magnetic instead of magnetohydrodynamic. Further, some minor inaccuracies are clarified.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure; accepted by Physical Review

Testing turbulent closure models with convection simulations

We compare simple analytical closure models of homogeneous turbulent Boussinesq convection for stellar applications with three-dimensional simulations. We use simple analytical closure models to compute the fluxes of angular momentum and heat as a function of rotation rate measured by the Taylor number. We also investigate cases with varying angles between the angular velocity and gravity vectors, corresponding to locating the computational domain at different latitudes ranging from the pole to the equator of the star. We perform three-dimensional numerical simulations in the same parameter regimes for comparison. The free parameters appearing in the closure models are calibrated by two fitting methods using simulation data. Unique determination of the closure parameters is possible only in the non-rotating case or when the system is placed at the pole. In the other cases the fit procedures yield somewhat differing results. The quality of the closure is tested by substituting the resulting coefficients back into the closure model and comparing with the simulation results. To eliminate the possibilities that the results obtained depend on the aspect ratio of the simulation domain or suffer from too small Rayleigh numbers we performed runs varying these parameters. The simulation data for the Reynolds stress and heat fluxes broadly agree with previous compressible simulations. The closure works fairly well with slow and fast rotation but its quality degrades for intermediate rotation rates. We find that the closure parameters depend not only on rotation rate but also on latitude. The weak dependence on Rayleigh number and the aspect ratio of the domain indicates that our results are generally validComment: 21 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Astron. Nach

The Developmental Sentence Scoring Procedure

This paper investigates the usefulness of the Developmental Sentence Scoring Procedure (DSS) as a clinical tool in rating the syntactic performance of young children

The proto--neutron--star dynamo -- viability and impediments

We study convective motions taken from hydrodynamic simulations of rotating proto--neutron stars (PNSs) with respect to their ability to excite a dynamo instability which may be responsible for the giant neutron star magnetic fields. Since it is impossible to simulate the magnetic field evolution employing the actual magnetic Reynolds numbers (\Rm) resulting from the hydrodynamic simulations, (smallest) critical \Rms and the corresponding field geometries are derived on the kinematic level by rescaling the velocity amplitudes. It turns out that the actual values of \Rm are by many orders of magnitude larger than the critical values found. A dynamo might therefore start to act vigorously very soon after the onset of convection. But as in general dynamo growth rates are non--monotonous functions of \Rm the later fate of the magnetic field is uncertain. Hence, no reliable statements on the existence and efficiency of PNS dynamos can be drawn without considering the interplay of magnetic field and convection from the beginning. Likewise, in so far as convection inside the PNS is regarded to be essential in re--launching the supernova explosion, a revision of its role in this respect could turn out to be necessary.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysic

Alpha effect due to buoyancy instability of a magnetic layer

A strong toroidal field can exist in form of a magnetic layer in the overshoot region below the solar convection zone. This motivates a more detailed study of the magnetic buoyancy instability with rotation. We calculate the alpha effect due to helical motions caused by a disintegrating magnetic layer in a rotating density-stratified system with angular velocity Omega making an angle theta with the vertical. We also study the dependence of the alpha effect on theta and the strength of the initial magnetic field. We carry out three-dimensional hydromagnetic simulations in Cartesian geometry. A turbulent EMF due to the correlations of the small scale velocity and magnetic field is generated. We use the test-field method to calculate the transport coefficients of the inhomogeneous turbulence produced by the layer. We show that the growth rate of the instability and the twist of the magnetic field vary monotonically with the ratio of thermal conductivity to magnetic diffusivity. The resulting alpha effect is inhomogeneous and increases with the strength of the initial magnetic field. It is thus an example of an "anti-quenched" alpha effect. The alpha effect is nonlocal, requiring around 8--16 Fourier modes to reconstruct the actual EMF based on the actual mean field.Comment: 14 pages, 19 figures 3 tables (submitted to A & A

Magnetars versus Radio Pulsars: MHD Stability in Newborn Highly Magnetized Neutron Stars

We study the stability/establishment of dipolar magnetostatic equilibrium configurations in new--born neutron stars (NSs) in dependence on the rotational velocity $\Omega$ and on the initial angle $\alpha$ between rotation and magnetic axis. The NS is modeled as a sphere of a highly magnetized ($B \sim 10^{15}$G) incompressible fluid of uniform density which rotates rigidly. For the initial dipolar background magnetic field, which defines the magnetic axis, two different configurations are assumed. We solve the 3D non--linear MHD equations by use of a spectral code. The problem in dimensionless form is completely defined by the initial field strength (for a fixed field geometry), the magnetic Prandtl number \Pm, and the normalized rotation rate. The evolution of the magnetic and velocity fields is considered for initial magnetic field strengths characterized by the ratio of ohmic diffusion and initial \Alf{} travel times \ttOhm/\ttAO \approx 1000, for \Pm = 0.1, 1, 10, and the ratio of rotation period and initial \Alf{} travel time, P/\ttAO = 0.012, 0.12, 1.2, 12. We find hints for the existence of a unique stable dipolar magnetostatic configuration for any specific $\alpha$, independent of the initial field geometry. Comparing NSs possessing the same field structure at the end of their proto--NS phase, it turns out that sufficiently fast rotating NSs (P\la6 ms) with \alpha \la 45^0 retain their magnetar field, while the others lose almost all of their initial magnetic energy by transferring it into magnetic and kinetic energy of relatively small--scaled fields and continue their life as radio pulsars with a dipolar surface field of $10^{12...13}$G.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures; accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysic