12,665 research outputs found

    A congruence involving products of qq-binomial coefficients

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    In this paper we establish a qq-analogue of a congruence of Sun concerning the products of binomial coefficients modulo the square of a prime.Comment: 9 page

    Zonal Flow Magnetic Field Interaction in the Semi-Conducting Region of Giant Planets

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    All four giant planets in the Solar System feature zonal flows on the order of 100 m/s in the cloud deck, and large-scale intrinsic magnetic fields on the order of 1 Gauss near the surface. The vertical structure of the zonal flows remains obscure. The end-member scenarios are shallow flows confined in the radiative atmosphere and deep flows throughout the entire planet. The electrical conductivity increases rapidly yet smoothly as a function of depth inside Jupiter and Saturn. Deep zonal flows will inevitably interact with the magnetic field, at depth with even modest electrical conductivity. Here we investigate the interaction between zonal flows and magnetic fields in the semi-conducting region of giant planets. Employing mean-field electrodynamics, we show that the interaction will generate detectable poloidal magnetic field perturbations spatially correlated with the deep zonal flows. Assuming the peak amplitude of the dynamo alpha-effect to be 0.1 mm/s, deep zonal flows on the order of 0.1 - 1 m/s in the semi-conducting region of Jupiter and Saturn would generate poloidal magnetic perturbations on the order of 0.01% - 1% of the background dipole field. These poloidal perturbations should be detectable with the in-situ magnetic field measurements from the Juno mission and the Cassini Grand Finale. This implies that magnetic field measurements can be employed to constrain the properties of deep zonal flows in the semi-conducting region of giant planets.Comment: 38 pages, 12 figures, revised submission to Icaru

    Gravity and Zonal Flows of Giant Planets: From the Euler Equation to the Thermal Wind Equation

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    Any nonspherical distribution of density inside planets and stars gives rise to a non-spherical external gravity and change of shape. If part or all of the observed zonal flows at the cloud deck of Jupiter and Saturn represent deep interior dynamics, then the density perturbations associated with the deep zonal flows could generate gravitational signals detectable by the Juno mission and the Cassini Grand Finale. Here we present a critical examination of the applicability of the thermal wind equation to calculate the wind induced gravity moments. Our analysis shows that wind induced gravity moments calculated from TWE are in overall agreement with the full solution to the Euler equation. However, the accuracy of individual high-degree moments calculated from TWE depends crucially on retaining the nonsphericity of the background density and gravity. Only when the background nonsphericity of the planet is taken into account, does the TWE make accurate enough prediction (with a few tens of percent errors) for individual high-degree gravity moments associated with deep zonal flows. Since the TWE is derived from the curl of the Euler equation and is a local relation, it necessarily says nothing about any density perturbations that contribute irrotational terms to the Euler equation and that have a non-local origin. However, the predicted corrections from these density contributions to the low harmonic degree gravity moments are not discernible from insignificant changes in interior models while the corrections at high harmonic degree are very small, a few percent or less.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures, 5 tables, accepted at JGR-Planet
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