Modeling the Subsurface Evolution of Active Region Flux Tubes
Y. Fan
备注：
6 pages, 3 figures, in Proceedings of the GONG 2008 / SOHO XXI conference on "Solar-stellar dynamos as revealed by helio- and asteroseismology", in press
I present results from a set of 3D spherical-shell MHD simulations of the buoyant rise of active region flux tubes in the solar interior which put new constraints on the initial twist of the subsurface tubes in order for them to emerge with tilt angles consistent with the observed Joy's law for the mean tilt of solar active regions. Due to the asymmetric stretching of the $Ω$-shaped tube by the Coriolis force, a field strength asymmetry develops with the leading side having a greater field strength and thus being more cohesive compared to the following side. Furthermore, the magnetic flux in the leading leg shows more coherent values of local twist $α\equiv {\bf J} \cdot {\bf B} / B^2$, whereas the values in the following leg show large fluctuations and are of mixed signs.
We use the SPARC code for MHD simulations with monolithic flux tubes of varying subsurface topology. Our studies involve the interactions of waves caused by a single source with subsurface magnetic fields. Mode conversion causing acoustic power to trickle downwards along the flux tube has been described before and can be visualized in our simulations. We show that this downward propagation causes the flux tube to act as an isolated source, creating a characteristic surface wavefield. Measuring this wavefield at the surface reveals subsurface properties of the magnetic field topology. Using tim…
Magnetic field emerges at the surface of the Sun as sunspots and active regions. This process generates a poloidal magnetic field from a rising toroidal flux tube, it is a crucial but poorly understood aspect of the solar dynamo. The emergence of magnetic field is also important because it is a key driver of solar activity. We show that measurements of horizontal flows at the solar surface around emerging active regions, in combination with numerical simulations of solar magnetoconvection, can constrain the subsurface rise speed of emerging magnetic flux. The observed flows imply that the rise…
The 1-D mean-field equation describing the evolution of the subsurface toroidal field can be used together with the observed surface radial field to model the subsurface toroidal flux density. We aim to test this model and determine the relationship between the observationally inferred surface toroidal field (as a proxy for flux emergence), and the modelled subsurface toroidal flux density. We use a combination of sunspot area observations, the surface toroidal field inferred from WSO line-of-sight magnetic field observations, and compare with the results of a 1-D mean-field evolution equation…
The fluting instability has been suggested as the driver of the subsurface structure of sunspot flux tubes. We conducted a series of numerical experiments where we used flux tubes with different initial curvatures to study the effect of the fluting instability on the subsurface structure of spots. We used the MURaM code, which has previously been used to simulate complete sunspots, to first compute four sunspots in the slab geometry and then two complete circular spots of opposite polarities. We find that the curvature of a flux tube indeed determines the degree of fluting the flux tube will u…
Reconstructing the Subsurface Three-Dimensional Magnetic Structure of A Solar Active Region Using SDO/HMI Observations
太阳活动区（AR）是形成于对流层中的三维磁结构，其性质对确定太阳活动区的日冕结构和太阳活动具有重要意义。然而，我们的知识详细的三维结构之前，它的出现是相当差的，在很大程度上限制了低节奏和灵敏度以前的仪器。在这里，使用45秒的高节奏的观测从太阳动力学天文台（\emph{SDO}）的太阳地震和磁成像仪（\emph{HMI}）板载，我们能够为第一次重建一个三维数据立方体和推断详细的地下磁结构的NOAA AR 11158和表征其磁连通性和拓扑结构。这一任务是在图像叠加方法和先进的三维可视化的帮助下完成的。我们发现，AR由两个主要的双极，或四个主要的极性。每个极性在3-D中显示出有趣的树状结构，即当极性的根部表现为单个树干状管时，极性的顶部具有由更小和更薄的通量管组成的多个分支，这些通量管连接到类似破碎的相反极性的分支。四个极性的根部沿着一条直线排列得很好，而顶部的分支稍微不共面。我们的观察表明，一个活跃的区域，即使出现在表面上非常复杂，可能源于一个简单的直通量管，经历了水平和垂直分叉过程中，其上升通过对流区。
Strong solar flares occur in $δ$-spots characterized by the opposite-polarity magnetic fluxes in a single penumbra. Sunspot formation via flux emergence from the convection zone to the photosphere can be strongly affected by convective turbulent flows. It has not yet been shown how crucial convective flows are for the formation of $δ$-spots. The aim of this study is to reveal the impact of convective flows in the convection zone on the formation and evolution of sunspot magnetic fields. We simulated the emergence and transport of magnetic flux tubes in the convection zone using radiative magne…
Active-region Modulation of Subsurface Meridional Flows and Magnetic Flux Transport on the Sun
Indian Institute of Astrophysics（印度天体物理研究所）；Pondicherry University（本地治里大学）；W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Stanford University（斯坦福大学W.W.汉森实验物理实验室）；National Solar Observatory（国家太阳天文台）
Context: Long-term variability in solar cycles represents a challenging constraint for theoretical models. Mean-field Babcock-Leighton dynamos that consider non-instantaneous rising flux tubes have been shown to exhibit long-term variability in their magnetic cycle. However a relation that parameterizes the rise-time of non-axisymmetric magnetic flux tubes in terms of stellar parameters is still missing. Aims: We aim to find a general parameterization of the rise-time of magnetic flux tubes for solar-like stars. Methods: By considering the influence of magnetic tension on the rise of non-axisy…
Comparing Simulations of Rising Flux Tubes Through the Solar Convection Zone with Observations of Solar Active Regions: Constraining the Dynamo Field Strength
We investigate the rising flux tube and the formation of sunspots in an unprecedentedly deep computational domain that covers the whole convection zone with a radiative magnetohydrodynamics simulation. Previous calculations had shallow computational boxes (< 30 Mm) and convection zones at a depth of 200 Mm. By using our new numerical code R2D2, we succeed in covering the whole convection zone and reproduce the formation of the sunspot from a simple horizontal flux tube because of the turbulent thermal convection. The main findings are (1) The rising speed of the flux tube is larger than the up…
Two approaches are used for description of linear transverse (kink) modes excited in a vertical thin magnetic flux tube. First one is based on the elastic thread model (Spruit, 1981). The second one follows from the the Taylor and Laurent series expansions of wave variables with respect to the tube radius inside and outside of the magnetic flux tube (Lopin and Nagorny, 2013). It has been shown that the main reason of the discrepancy of these approaches is related to the phenomenological equation of plasma motion used in the former case. This suggests that results obtained on the basis of this …
Observations suggest that twisted magnetic flux tubes are ubiquitous in the Sun's atmosphere. The main aim of this work is to advance the study of axisymmetric modes of magnetic flux tubes by modeling both twisted internal and external magnetic field, when the magnetic twist is weak. In this work, we solve the derived wave equations numerically assuming twist outside the tube is inversely proportional to the distance from its boundary. We also study the case of constant magnetic twist outside the tube and solve these equations analytically. We show that the solution for a constant twist outsid…
In this study, the properties of wavefunctions of the MHD oscillations for a single and a system of straight flux tubes are investigated. Magnetic flux tubes with a straight magnetic field and longitudinal density stratification were considered in zero-βapproximation. A single three-dimensional wave equation (eigen value problem) is solved for longitudinal component of the perturbed magnetic field using the finite element method (FEM). Wavefunctions (eigenfunction of wave equation) of the MHD oscillations are categorized into sausage, kink, helical kink and fluting modes. Concerning the amplit…
The buoyant transport of magnetic fields from the solar interior towards the surface plays an important role in the emergence of active regions, the formation of sunspots and the overall solar dynamo. Observations suggest that toroidal flux concentrations often referred to as "flux tubes", rise from their region of initiation likely in the solar tachocline towards the solar surface due to magnetic buoyancy. Many studies have assumed the existence of such magnetic structures and studied the buoyant rise of an isolated flux tube in a quiescent, field-free environment. Here, motivated by their fo…
