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Main Authors: Duguid, Craig D., Bushby, Paul J., Wood, Toby S.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.08400
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author Duguid, Craig D.
Bushby, Paul J.
Wood, Toby S.
author_facet Duguid, Craig D.
Bushby, Paul J.
Wood, Toby S.
contents The details of the dynamo process that is responsible for driving the solar magnetic activity cycle are still not fully understood. In particular, whilst differential rotation provides a plausible mechanism for the regeneration of the toroidal (azimuthal) component of the large-scale magnetic field, there is ongoing debate regarding the process that is responsible for regenerating the Sun's large-scale poloidal field. Our aim is to demonstrate that magnetic buoyancy, in the presence of rotation, is capable of producing the necessary regenerative effect. Building upon our previous work, we carry out numerical simulations of a local Cartesian model of the tachocline, consisting of a rotating, fully compressible, electrically conducting fluid with a forced shear flow. An initially weak, vertical magnetic field is sheared into a strong, horizontal magnetic layer that becomes subject to magnetic buoyancy instability. By increasing the Prandtl number we lessen the back reaction of the Lorentz force onto the shear flow, maintaining stronger shear and a more intense magnetic layer. This in turn leads to a more vigorous instability and a much stronger mean electromotive force, which has the potential to significantly influence the evolution of the mean magnetic field. These results are only weakly dependent upon the inclination of the rotation vector, i.e. the latitude of the local Cartesian model. Although further work is needed to confirm this, these results suggest that magnetic buoyancy in the tachocline is a viable poloidal field regeneration mechanism for the solar dynamo.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_08400
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Shear-driven magnetic buoyancy in the solar tachocline: Dependence of the mean electromotive force on diffusivity and latitude
Duguid, Craig D.
Bushby, Paul J.
Wood, Toby S.
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
The details of the dynamo process that is responsible for driving the solar magnetic activity cycle are still not fully understood. In particular, whilst differential rotation provides a plausible mechanism for the regeneration of the toroidal (azimuthal) component of the large-scale magnetic field, there is ongoing debate regarding the process that is responsible for regenerating the Sun's large-scale poloidal field. Our aim is to demonstrate that magnetic buoyancy, in the presence of rotation, is capable of producing the necessary regenerative effect. Building upon our previous work, we carry out numerical simulations of a local Cartesian model of the tachocline, consisting of a rotating, fully compressible, electrically conducting fluid with a forced shear flow. An initially weak, vertical magnetic field is sheared into a strong, horizontal magnetic layer that becomes subject to magnetic buoyancy instability. By increasing the Prandtl number we lessen the back reaction of the Lorentz force onto the shear flow, maintaining stronger shear and a more intense magnetic layer. This in turn leads to a more vigorous instability and a much stronger mean electromotive force, which has the potential to significantly influence the evolution of the mean magnetic field. These results are only weakly dependent upon the inclination of the rotation vector, i.e. the latitude of the local Cartesian model. Although further work is needed to confirm this, these results suggest that magnetic buoyancy in the tachocline is a viable poloidal field regeneration mechanism for the solar dynamo.
title Shear-driven magnetic buoyancy in the solar tachocline: Dependence of the mean electromotive force on diffusivity and latitude
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.08400