arXiv subjects

Aake Nordlund

Publications and source records attributed to Aake Nordlund.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2002

Radiative Transfer in 3D Numerical Simulations

We simulate convection near the solar surface, where the continuum optical depth is of order unity. Hence, to determine the radiative heating and cooling in the energy conservation equation, we must solve the radiative transfer equation (instead of using the diffusion or optically thin cooling approximations). A method efficient enough to calculate the radiation for thousands of time steps is needed. We assume LTE and a non-gray opacity grouped into 4 bins according to strength. We perform a formal solution of the Feautrier equation along a vertical and four straight, slanted, rays (at four azimuthal angles which are rotated 15 deg. every time step). We present details of our method. We also give some results: comparing simulated and observed line profiles for the Sun, showing the importance of 3D transfer for the structure of the mean atmosphere and the eigenfrequencies of p-modes, illustrating Stokes profiles for micropores, and analyzing the effect of radiation on p-mode asymmetries.

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arXiv2002

Solar Surface Magneto-Convection

Magneto-convection simulations on meso-granule and granule scales near the solar surface are used to study small scale dynamo activity, the emergence and disappearance of magnetic flux tubes, and the formation and evolution of micropores. From weak seed fields, convective motions produce highly intermittent magnetic fields in the intergranular lanes which collect over the boundaries of the underlying meso-granular scale cells. Instances of both emerging magnetic flux loops and magnetic flux disappearing from the surface occur in the simulations. We show an example of a flux tube collapsing to kG field strength and discuss how the nature of flux disappearance can be investigated. Observed stokes profiles of small magnetic structures are severely distorted by telescope diffraction and seeing. Because of the strong stratification, there is little recycling of plasma and field in the surface layers. Recycling instead occurs by exchange with the deep layers of the convection zone. Plasma and field from the surface descend through the convection zone and rise again toward the surface. Because only a tiny fraction of plasma rising up from deep in the convection zone reaches the surface due to mass conservation, little of the magnetic energy resides in the near surface layers. Thus the dynamo acting on weak incoherent fields is global, rather than a local surface dynamo.

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arXiv2002

Star Formation and the Initial Mass Function

Supersonic turbulence fragments the interstellar medium into dense sheets, filaments, cores and large low density voids. The turbulence is driven on large scales, probably predominantly by supernovae. The scaling properties of supersonic turbulence are well described by a new analytical theory. The distribution of proto-stellar core masses depends primarily on the power spectrum of the turbulent flow, and on the jump conditions for near isothermal shocks in a magnetized gas. For the predicted velocity power spectrum index beta=1.74, consistent with results of numerical experiments of supersonic turbulence as well as with Larson's velocity-size relation, one obtains by scaling arguments a power law mass distribution of dense cores with a slope equal to 3/(4-beta) = 1.33, consistent with the slope of the Salpeter stellar initial mass function (IMF). Results from numerical simulations confirm this scaling. Both the analytical model for the stellar IMF and its numerical estimate show that turbulent fragmentation can also explain the origin of brown dwarfs.

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arXiv2002

Magnetic dissipation: Spatial and temporal structure

A magnetically dominated plasma driven by motions on boundaries at which magnetic field lines are anchored is forced to dissipate the work being done upon it, no matter how small the electrical resistivity. Numerical experiments have clarified that dissipation is achieved through the formation of a hierarchy of electrical current sheets. The probability distribution function of the local winding of magnetic field lines is nearly Gaussian, with a width of the order unity. The dissipation is highly irregular in space and time, but the average level of dissipation is well described by a scaling law that is independent of the electrical resistivity. If the boundary driving is suspended for a period of time the magnetic dissipation rapidly drops to insignificant levels, leaving the magnetic field in a nearly force-free state. Renewed boundary driving leads to a quick return to dissipation levels compatible with the rate of boundary work, with dissipation starting much more rapidly than when starting from idealized initial conditions with a uniform magnetic field. Application of these concepts to the solar corona lends credibility to realistic, three-dimensional numerical models that predict emission measures, coronal structures, and heating rates compatible with observations.

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arXiv2002

What Causes P-mode Asymmetry Reversal?

The solar acoustic p-mode line profiles are asymmetric. Velocity spectra have more power on the low-frequency sides, whereas intensity profiles show the opposite sense of asymmetry. Numerical simulations of the upper convection zone have resonant p-modes with the same asymmetries and asymmetry reversal as the observed modes. The temperature and velocity power spectra at optical depth $τ_{\rm cont} = 1$ have the opposite asymmetry as is observed for the intensity and velocity spectra. At a fixed geometrical depth, corresponding to $<τ_{\rm cont}>=1$, however, the temperature and velocity spectra have the same asymmetry. This indicates that the asymmetry reversal is produced by radiative transfer effects and not by correlated noise.

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arXiv2002

Bright loops in the solar corona

The heating of the solar corona and the puzzle of the slender high reaching magnetic loops seen in observations from the Transition Region And Coronal Explorer(TRACE) has been investigated through 3D numerical simulations, and found to be caused by the well observed plasma flows in the photosphere displacing the footpoints of magnetic loops in a nearly potential configuration. It is found that even the small convective displacements cause magnetic dissipation sufficient to heat the corona to temperatures of the order of a million Kelvin. The heating is intermittent in both space and time - at any one height and time it spans several orders of magnitude, and localized heating causes transonic flows along field lines, which explains the observed non-hydrostatic equilibrium of loops that are bright in emission measure.

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arXiv2002

Numerical Simulations of Kinematic Dynamo Action

Numerical simulations of kinematic dynamo action in steady and 3-d ABC flows are presented with special focus on growth rates and multiple periods of the prescribed velocity field. It is found that the difference in growth rate is due to differences in the recycling of the weakest part of the magnetic field. Differences in the topology in cases with and without stagnation points in the imposed velocity field are also investigated, and it is found that the cigar-like structures that develop in the classical A=B=C dynamos, are replaced by ribbon structures in cases where the flow is without stagnation points.

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arXiv2002

Supersonic turbulence and structure of interstellar molecular clouds

The interstellar medium (ISM) provides a unique laboratory for highly supersonic, driven hydrodynamics turbulence. We present a theory of such turbulence, confirm it by numerical simulations, and use the results to explain observational properties of interstellar molecular clouds, the regions where stars are born.

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arXiv2001

Solar Convection and Magneto-Convection Simulations

Magneto-convection simulations with two scenarios have been performed: In one, horizontal magnetic field is advected into the computational domain by fluid entering at the bottom. In the other, an initially uniform vertical magnetic field is imposed on a snapshot of non-magnetic convection and allowed to evolve. In both cases, the field is swept into the intergranular lanes and the boundaries of the underlying mesogranules. The largest field concentrations at the surface reach pressure balance with the surrounding gas. They suppress both horizontal and vertical flows, which reduces the heat transport. They cool, become evacuated and their optical depth unity surface is depressed by several hundred kilometers. Micropores form, typically where a small granule disappears and surrounding flux tubes squeeze into its previous location.

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arXiv2001

Scaling relations of supersonic turbulence in star-forming molecular clouds

We present a direct numerical and analytical study of driven supersonic MHD turbulence that is believed to govern the dynamics of star-forming molecular clouds. We describe statistical properties of the turbulence by measuring the velocity difference structure functions up to the fifth order. In particular, the velocity power spectrum in the inertial range is found to be close to E(k) \~ k^{-1.74}, and the velocity difference scales as <|Δu|>~ L^{0.42}. The results agree well with the Kolmogorov--Burgers analytical model suggested for supersonic turbulence in [astro-ph/0108300]. We then generalize the model to more realistic, fractal structure of molecular clouds, and show that depending on the fractal dimension of a given molecular cloud, the theoretical value for the velocity spectrum spans the interval [-1.74 ... -1.89], while the corresponding window for the velocity difference scaling exponent is [0.42 ... 0.78].

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arXiv2000

On the transport of magnetic fields by solar-like stratified convection

The interaction of magnetic fields and stratified convection was studied in the context of the solar and late type stellar dynamos by using numerical 3D MHD simulations. The topology of stratified asymmetric and over-turning convection enables a pumping mechanism that may render the magnetic flux storage problem obsolete. The inclusion of open boundary conditions leads to a considerable flux loss unless the open boundary is placed close to the physical boundary. Simulations including solar-like latitudinal shear indicates that a toroidal field of several tens of kilo-Gauss may be held down by the pumping mechanism.

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