Recently helioseismic observations have revealed the presence of a shear
layer at the base of the convective zone related to the transition from
differential rotation in the convection zone to almost uniform rotation in the
radiative interior, the tachocline. At present, this layer extends only over a
few percent of the solar radius and no definitive explanations have been given
for this thiness. Following Spiegel and Zahn (1992, Astron. Astrophys.), who
invoke anisotropic turbulence to stop the spread of the tachocline deeper in
the radiative zone as the Sun evolves, we give some justifications for their
hypothesis by taking into account recent results on rotating shear instability
(Richard and Zahn 1999, Astron. Astrophys.). We study the impact of the
macroscopic motions present in this layer on the Sun's structure and evolution
by introducing a macroscopic diffusivity DT in updated solar models. We find
that a time dependent treatment of the tachocline significantly improves the
agreement between computed and observed surface chemical species, such as the
7Li and modify the internal structure of the Sun (Brun, Turck-Chi\`eze and
Zahn, 1999, in Astrophys. J.).Comment: to appear in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol 898.
Postscript file, 9 pages and 5 figures New Email Address for A. S. Brun:
[email protected]
