arXiv subjects

Axel Brandenburg

Publications and source records attributed to Axel Brandenburg.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Energetics of turbulence generated by chiral MHD dynamos

An asymmetry in the number density of left- and right-handed fermions is known to give rise to a new term in the induction equation that can result in a dynamo instability. At high temperatures, when a chiral asymmetry can survive for long enough, this chiral dynamo instability can amplify magnetic fields efficiently, which in turn drive turbulence via the Lorentz force. While it has been demonstrated in numerical simulations that this chiral magnetically driven turbulence exists and strongly affects the dynamics of the magnetic field, the details of this process remain unclear. The goal of this paper is to analyse the energetics of chiral magnetically driven turbulence and its effect on the generation and dynamics of the magnetic field using direct numerical simulations. We study these effects for different initial conditions, including a variation of the initial chiral chemical potential and the magnetic Prandtl number, Pm. In particular, we determine the ratio of kinetic to magnetic energy, Upsilon, in chiral magnetically driven turbulence. Within the parameter space explored in this study, Upsilon reaches a value of approximately 0.064-0.074 -independently of the initial chiral asymmetry and for Pm=1. Our simulations suggest, that Upsilon decreases as a power law when increasing Pm by decreasing the viscosity. While the exact scaling depends on the details of the fitting criteria and the Reynolds number regime, an approximate result of Upsilon(Pm)=0.1 Pm^{-0.4} is reported. Using the findings from our numerical simulations, we analyse the energetics of chiral magnetically driven turbulence in the early Universe.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2018

Statistical Properties of Scale-Invariant Helical Magnetic Fields and Applications to Cosmology

We investigate the statistical properties of isotropic, stochastic, Gaussian distributed, helical magnetic fields characterized by different shapes of the energy spectra at large length scales and study the associated realizability condition. We discuss smoothed magnetic fields that are commonly used when the primordial magnetic field is constrained by observational data. We are particularly interested in scale-invariant magnetic fields that can be generated during the inflationary stage by quantum fluctuations. We determine the correlation length of such magnetic fields and relate it to the infrared cutoff of perturbations produced during inflation. We show that this scale determines the observational signatures of the inflationary magnetic fields on the cosmic microwave background. At smaller scales, the scale-invariant spectrum changes with time. It becomes a steeper weak-turbulence spectrum at progressively larger scales. We show numerically that the critical length scale where this happens is the turbulent-diffusive scale, which increases with the square root of time.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2018

Solar Kinetic Energy and Cross Helicity Spectra

We develop a formalism that treats the calculation of solar kinetic energy and cross helicity spectra in an equal manner to that of magnetic energy and helicity spectra. The magnetic helicity spectrum is shown to be equal to the vertical part of the current helicity spectrum divided by the square of the wavenumber. For the cross helicity, we apply the recently developed two-scale approach globally over an entire active region to account for the sign change between the two polarities. Using vector magnetograms and Dopplergrams of NOAA 11158 and 12266, we show that kinetic and magnetic energy spectra have similar slopes at intermediate wavenumbers, where the contribution from the granulation velocity has been removed. At wavenumbers around 0.3 Mm$^{-1}$, the magnetic helicity is found to be close to its maximal value. The cross helicity spectra are found to be within about 10% of the maximum possible value. Using the two-scale method for NOAA 12266, the global cross helicity spectrum is found to be particularly steep, similarly to what has previously been found in theoretical models of spot generation. In the quiet Sun, by comparison, the cross helicity spectrum is found to be small.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2018

Advances in mean-field dynamo theory and applications to astrophysical turbulence

Recent advances in mean-field theory are reviewed and applications to the Sun, late-type stars, accretion disks, galaxies, and the early Universe are discussed. We focus particularly on aspects of spatio-temporal nonlocality, which is one of the main insights that emerged from applying the test-field method to magnetic fields of different length and timescales. We also review the status of nonlinear quenching and the relation to magnetic helicity, which is an important observational diagnostic of modern solar dynamo theory. Both solar and some stellar dynamos seem to operate in an intermediate regime that has not yet been possible to model successfully. This regime is bracketed by antisolar-like differential rotation on one end and stellar activity cycles belonging to the superactive stars on the other. The difficulty in modeling this regime may be related to shortcomings in modelling solar/stellar convection. On galactic and extragalactic length scales, the observational constraints are still less stringent and uncertain, but recent advances both in theory and in observations suggest that more conclusive comparisons may soon be possible. The possibility of inversely cascading magnetic helicity throughout all of the early Universe is particularly exciting in explaining the lower limits of magnetic fields on cosmological length scales and the possibility of parity breaking and finite helicity of such a field.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2018

Laminar and turbulent dynamos in chiral magnetohydrodynamics. II. Simulations

Using direct numerical simulations (DNS), we study laminar and turbulent dynamos in chiral magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) with an extended set of equations that accounts for an additional contribution to the electric current due to the chiral magnetic effect (CME). This quantum phenomenon originates from an asymmetry between left- and right-handed relativistic fermions in the presence of a magnetic field and gives rise to a chiral dynamo. We show that the magnetic field evolution proceeds in three stages: (1) a small-scale chiral dynamo instability; (2) production of chiral magnetically driven turbulence and excitation of a large-scale dynamo instability due to a new chiral effect (alpha_mu effect); and (3) saturation of magnetic helicity and magnetic field growth controlled by a conservation law for the total chirality. The $α_μ$ effect becomes dominant at large fluid and magnetic Reynolds numbers and is not related to kinetic helicity. The growth rate of the large-scale magnetic field and its characteristic scale measured in the numerical simulations agree well with theoretical predictions based on mean-field theory. The previously discussed two-stage chiral magnetic scenario did not include stage (2) during which the characteristic scale of magnetic field variations can increase by many orders of magnitude. Based on the findings from numerical simulations, the relevance of the CME and the chiral effects revealed in the relativistic plasma of the early universe and of proto-neutron stars are discussed.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2018

Transition from axi- to nonaxisymmetric dynamo modes in spherical convection models of solar-like stars

We seek to understand the transition from nearly axisymmetric configurations at solar rotation rates to nonaxisymmetric configurations for rapid rotation using 3D numerical simulations of turbulent convection and considering rotation rates between 1 and 30 times the solar value. We find a transition from axi- to nonaxisymmetric solutions at around 1.8 times the solar rotation rate. This transition coincides with a change in the rotation profile from antisolar- to solar-like differential rotation with a faster equator and slow poles. In the solar-like rotation regime, the field configuration consists of an axisymmetric oscillatory field accompanied by an m=1 azimuthal mode (two active longitudes), which also shows temporal variability. At slow (rapid) rotation, the axisymmetric (nonaxisymmetric) mode dominates. The axisymmetric mode produces latitudinal dynamo waves with polarity reversals, while the nonaxisymmetric mode often exhibits a drift in the rotating reference frame and the strength of the active longitudes changes cyclically over time between the different hemispheres. Most of the obtained dynamo solutions exhibit cyclic variability either caused by latitudinal or azimuthal dynamo waves. In an activity-period diagram, the cycle lengths normalized by the rotation period form two different populations as a function of rotation rate or magnetic activity level. The slowly rotating axisymmetric population lies close to what is called the inactive branch in observations, while the rapidly rotating models are close to the superactive branch with a declining cycle to rotation frequency ratio with increasing rotation rate. We can successfully reproduce the transition from axi- to nonaxisymmetric dynamo solutions for high rotation rates, but high-resolution simulations are required to limit the effect of rotational quenching of convection at rotation rates above 20 times the solar value.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2018

Bihelical spectrum of solar magnetic helicity and its evolution

Using a recently developed two-scale formalism to determine the magnetic helicity spectrum (Brandenburg et al. 2017), we analyze synoptic vector magnetograms built with data from the Vector Spectromagnetograph (VSM) instrument on the \emph{Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun} (SOLIS) telescope during January 2010-July 2016. In contrast to an earlier study using only three Carrington rotations, our analysis includes 74 synoptic Carrington rotation maps. We recover here bihelical spectra at different phases of solar cycle~24, where the net magnetic helicity in the majority of the data is consistent with a large-scale dynamo with helical turbulence operating in the Sun. More than $20\%$ of the analyzed maps, however, show violations of the expected sign rule.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2018

Small-scale dynamos in simulations of stratified turbulent convection

Small-scale dynamo action is often held responsible for the generation of quiet-Sun magnetic fields. We aim to determine the excitation conditions and saturation level of small-scale dynamos in non-rotating turbulent convection at low magnetic Prandtl numbers. We use high resolution direct numerical simulations of weakly stratified turbulent convection. We find that the critical magnetic Reynolds number for dynamo excitation increases as the magnetic Prandtl number is decreased, which might suggest that small-scale dynamo action is not automatically evident in bodies with small magnetic Prandtl numbers as the Sun. As a function of the magnetic Reynolds number (${\rm Rm}$), the growth rate of the dynamo is consistent with an ${\rm Rm}^{1/2}$ scaling. No evidence for a logarithmic increase of the growth rate with ${\rm Rm}$ is found.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2018

Enhanced stellar activity for slow antisolar differential rotation?

High precision photometry of solar-like members of the open cluster M67 with Kepler/K2 data has recently revealed enhanced activity for stars with a large Rossby number, which is the ratio of rotation period to the convective turnover time. Contrary to the well established behavior for shorter rotation periods and smaller Rossby numbers, the chromospheric activity of the more slowly rotating stars of M67 was found to increase with increasing Rossby number. Such behavior has never been reported before, although it was theoretically predicted to emerge as a consequence of antisolar differential rotation (DR) for stars with Rossby numbers larger than that of the Sun, because in those models the absolute value of the DR was found to exceed that for solar-like DR. Using gyrochronological relations and an approximate age of 4 Gyr for the members of M67, we compare with computed rotation rates using just the B-V color. The resulting rotation--activity relation is found to be compatible with that obtained by employing the measured rotation rate. This provides additional support for the unconventional enhancement of activity at comparatively low rotation rates and the possible presence of antisolar differential rotation.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2018

Turbulent transport coefficients in spherical wedge dynamo simulations of solar-like stars

We investigate dynamo action in global compressible solar-like convective dynamos in the framework of mean-field theory. We simulate a solar-type star in a wedge-shaped spherical shell, where the interplay between convection and rotation self-consistently drives a large-scale dynamo. To analyze the dynamo mechanism we apply the test-field method for azimuthally ($ϕ$) averaged fields to determine the 27 turbulent transport coefficients of the electromotive force, of which six are related to the $α$ tensor. This method has previously been used either in simulations in Cartesian coordinates or in the geodynamo context and is applied here for the first time to fully compressible simulations of solar-like dynamos. We find that the $ϕϕ$-component of the $α$ tensor does not follow the profile expected from that of kinetic helicity. The turbulent pumping velocities significantly alter the effective mean flows acting on the magnetic field and therefore challenge the flux transport dynamo concept. All coefficients are significantly affected by dynamically important magnetic fields. Quenching as well as enhancement are being observed. This leads to a modulation of the coefficients with the activity cycle. The temporal variations are found to be comparable to the time-averaged values and seem to be responsible for a nonlinear feedback on the magnetic field generation. Furthermore, we quantify the validity of the Parker-Yoshimura rule for the equatorward propagation of the mean magnetic field in the present case.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2017

Scale-invariant helical magnetic field evolution and the duration of inflation

We consider a scale-invariant helical magnetic field generated during inflation. We show that, if the mean magnetic helicity density of such a field is measured, it can be used to determine a lower bound on the duration of inflation. Upper bounds can be used to derive constraints on the minimal duration of inflation if one assumes that the magnetic field generated during inflation is helical. Using three-dimensional simulations, we show that an initially scale-invariant field develops, which is similar both with and without magnetic helicity. In the fully helical case, however, the magnetic field appears to have a more pronounced folded structure.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

Evolution of hydromagnetic turbulence from the electroweak phase transition

We present new simulations of decaying hydromagnetic turbulence for a relativistic equation of state relevant to the early universe. We compare helical and nonhelical cases either with kinetically or magnetically dominated initial fields. Both kinetic and magnetic initial helicities lead to maximally helical magnetic fields after some time, but with different temporal decay laws. Both are relevant to the early universe, although no mechanisms have yet been identified that produce magnetic helicity with strengths comparable to the big bang nucleosynthesis limit at scales comparable to the Hubble horizon at the electroweak phase transition. Nonhelical magnetically dominated fields could still produce picoGauss magnetic fields under most optimistic conditions. Only helical magnetic fields can potentially have nanoGauss strengths at scales up to 30 kpc today.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

Spontaneous flux concentrations from the negative effective magnetic pressure instability beneath a radiative stellar surface

The formation of sunspots requires the concentration of magnetic flux near the surface. The negative magnetic pressure instability (NEMPI) might be a possible mechanism for accomplishing this, but it has mainly been studied in simple systems using an isothermal equation of state without a natural free surface. We study NEMPI in a stratified Cartesian mean-field model where turbulence effects are parameterized. We use an ideal equation of state and include radiation transport, which establishes selfconsistently a free surface. We use a Kramers-type opacity with adjustable exponents chosen such that the deeper layers are approximately isentropic. No convection is therefore possible in this model, allowing us to study NEMPI with radiation in isolation. We restrict ourselves to two-dimensional models. We use artificially enhanced mean-field coefficients to allow NEMPI to develop, making it therefore possible to study the reason why it is much harder to excite in the presence of radiation. NEMPI yields moderately strong magnetic flux concentrations a certain distance beneath the surface where optical depth is unity. The instability is oscillatory and in the form of upward travelling waves. This seems to be a new effect that has not been found in earlier models without radiative transport. The horizontal wavelength is about ten times smaller than what has been found previously in more idealized isothermal models. In our models, NEMPI saturates at field strengths too low to explain sunspots. Furthermore, the structures appear too narrow and too far beneath the surface to cause significant brightness variations at the radiative surface. We speculate that the failure to reproduce effects resembling sunspots may be related to the neglect of convection.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2017

Extended subadiabatic layer in simulations of overshooting convection

We present numerical simulations of hydrodynamic overshooting convection in local Cartesian domains. We find that a substantial fraction of the lower part of the convection zone (CZ) is stably stratified according to the Schwarzschild criterion while the enthalpy flux is outward directed. This occurs when the heat conduction profile at the bottom of the CZ is smoothly varying, based either on a Kramers-like opacity prescription as a function of temperature and density or a static profile of a similar shape. We show that the subadiabatic layer arises due to nonlocal energy transport by buoyantly driven downflows in the upper parts of the CZ. Analysis of the force balance of the upflows and downflows confirms that convection is driven by cooling at the surface. We find that the commonly used prescription for the convective enthalpy flux being proportional to the negative entropy gradient does not hold in the stably stratified layers where the flux is positive. We demonstrate the existence of a non-gradient contribution to the enthalpy flux, which is estimated to be important throughout the convective layer. A quantitative analysis of downflows indicates a transition from a tree-like structure where smaller downdrafts merge into larger ones in the upper parts to a structure in the deeper parts where a height-independent number of strong downdrafts persist. This change of flow topology occurs when a substantial subadiabatic layer is present in the lower part of the CZ.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2017

The turbulent chiral-magnetic cascade in the early universe

The presence of asymmetry between fermions of opposite handedness in plasmas of relativistic particles can lead to exponential growth of a helical magnetic field via a small-scale chiral dynamo instability known as the chiral magnetic effect. Here, we show, using dimensional arguments and numerical simulations, that this process produces through the Lorentz force chiral magnetically driven turbulence. A k^{-2} magnetic energy spectrum emerges via inverse transfer over a certain range of wavenumbers k. The total chirality (magnetic helicity plus normalized chiral chemical potential) is conserved in this system. Therefore, as the helical magnetic field grows, most of the total chirality gets transferred into magnetic helicity until the chiral magnetic effect terminates. Quantitative results for height, slope, and extent of the spectrum are obtained. Consequences of this effect for cosmic magnetic fields are discussed.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

Evolution of coexisting long and short period stellar activity cycles

The magnetic activity of the Sun becomes stronger and weaker over roughly an 11 year cycle, modulating the radiation and charged particle environment experienced by the Earth as "space weather". Decades of observations from the Mount Wilson Observatory have revealed that other stars also show regular activity cycles in their Ca II H+K line emission, and identified two different relationships between the length of the cycle and the rotation rate of the star. Recent observations at higher cadence have allowed the discovery of shorter cycles with periods between 1-3 yr. Some of these shorter cycles coexist with longer cycle periods, suggesting that two underlying dynamos can operate simultaneously. We combine these new observations with previous data, and we show that the longer and shorter cycle periods agree remarkably well with those expected from an earlier analysis based on the mean activity level and the rotation period. The relative turbulent length scales associated with the two branches of cyclic behavior suggest that a near-surface dynamo may be the dominant mechanism that drives cycles in more active stars, whereas a dynamo operating in deeper layers may dominate in less active stars. However, several examples of equally prominent long and short cycles have been found at all levels of activity of stars younger than 2.3 Gyr. Deviations from the expected cycle periods show no dependence on the depth of the convection zone or on the metallicity. For some stars that exhibit longer cycles, we compute the periods of shorter cycles that might be detected with future high-cadence observations.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2017

Compensating Faraday depolarization by magnetic helicity in the solar corona

A turbulent dynamo in spherical geometry with an outer corona is simulated to study the sign of magnetic helicity in the outer parts. In agreement with earlier studies, the sign in the outer corona is found to be opposite to that inside the dynamo. Line-of-sight observations of polarized emission are synthesized to explore the feasibility of using the local reduction of Faraday depolarization to infer the sign of helicity of magnetic fields in the solar corona. This approach was previously identified as an observational diagnostic in the context of galactic magnetic fields. Based on our simulations, we show that this method can be successful in the solar context if sufficient statistics is gathered by using averages over ring segments in the corona separately for the regions north and south of the solar equator.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2017

Enhancement of small-scale turbulent dynamo by large-scale shear

Small-scale dynamos are ubiquitous in a broad range of turbulent flows with large-scale shear, ranging from solar and galactic magnetism to accretion disks, cosmology and structure formation. Using high-resolution direct numerical simulations we show that in non-helically forced turbulence with zero mean magnetic field, large-scale shear supports small-scale dynamo action, i.e., the dynamo growth rate increases with shear and shear enhances or even produces turbulence, which, in turn, further increases the dynamo growth rate. When the production rates of turbulent kinetic energy due to shear and forcing are comparable, we find scalings for the growth rate $γ$ of the small-scale dynamo and the turbulent velocity $u_{\rm rms}$ with shear rate $S$ that are independent of the magnetic Prandtl number: $γ\propto |S|$ and $u_{\rm rms} \propto |S|^{2/3}$. For large fluid and magnetic Reynolds numbers, $γ$, normalized by its shear-free value, depends only on shear. Having compensated for shear-induced effects on turbulent velocity, we find that the normalized growth rate of the small-scale dynamo exhibits the scaling, $\widetildeγ\propto |S|^{2/3}$, arising solely from the induction equation for a given velocity field.

astro-ph.SR↗