Simulating cosmic rays in clusters of galaxies – III. Non-thermal scaling relations and comparison to observations     

Christoph Pfrommer 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2008,385(3):1242-1256

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Photospheric cancelling magnetic features and associated phenomena in a stratified solar atmosphere     

B. von Rekowski  A. W. Hood 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2008,385(4):1792-1812

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Dimensionless measures of turbulent magnetohydrodynamic dissipation rates     

Eric G. Blackman  George B. Field 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2008,386(3):1481-1486

The magnetic Reynolds number, R _M, is defined as the product of a characteristic scale and associated flow speed divided by the microphysical magnetic diffusivity. For laminar flows, R _M also approximates the ratio of advective to dissipative terms in the total magnetic energy equation, but for turbulent flows this latter ratio depends on the energy spectra and approaches unity in a steady state. To generalize for flows of arbitrary spectra we define an effective magnetic dissipation number,   R _M,e  , as the ratio of the advection to microphysical dissipation terms in the total magnetic energy equation, incorporating the full spectrum of scales, arbitrary magnetic Prandtl numbers, and distinct pairs of inner and outer scales for magnetic and kinetic spectra. As expected, for a substantial parameter range   R _M,e∼ O (1) ≪ R _M  . We also distinguish   R _M,e  from     where the latter is an effective magnetic Reynolds number for the mean magnetic field equation when a turbulent diffusivity is explicitly imposed as a closure. That   R _M,e  and     approach unity even if   R _M≫ 1  highlights that, just as in hydrodynamic turbulence, energy dissipation of large-scale structures in turbulent flows via a cascade can be much faster than the dissipation of large-scale structures in laminar flows. This illustrates that the rate of energy dissipation by magnetic reconnection is much faster in turbulent flows, and much less sensitive to microphysical reconnection rates compared to laminar flows.  相似文献   

Toroidal versus poloidal magnetic fields in Sun-like stars: a rotation threshold     

P. Petit  B. Dintrans  S. K. Solanki  J.-F. Donati  M. Aurière  F. Lignières  J. Morin  F. Paletou  J. Ramirez  C. Catala  R. Fares 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2008,388(1):80-88

From a set of stellar spectropolarimetric observations, we report the detection of surface magnetic fields in a sample of four solar-type stars, namely HD 73350, HD 76151, HD 146233 (18 Sco) and HD 190771. Assuming that the observed variability of polarimetric signal is controlled by stellar rotation, we establish the rotation periods of our targets, with values ranging from 8.8 d (for HD 190771) to 22.7 d (for HD 146233). Apart from rotation, fundamental parameters of the selected objects are very close to the Sun's, making this sample a practical basis to investigate the specific impact of rotation on magnetic properties of Sun-like stars.
We reconstruct the large-scale magnetic geometry of the targets as a low-order  (ℓ < 10)  spherical harmonic expansion of the surface magnetic field. From the set of magnetic maps, we draw two main conclusions. (i) The magnetic energy of the large-scale field increases with rotation rate. The increase in chromospheric emission with the mean magnetic field is flatter than observed in the Sun. Since the chromospheric flux is also sensitive to magnetic elements smaller than those contributing to the polarimetric signal, this observation suggests that a larger fraction of the surface magnetic energy is stored in large scales as rotation increases. (ii) Whereas the magnetic field is mostly poloidal for low rotation rates, more rapid rotators host a large-scale toroidal component in their surface field. From our observations, we infer that a rotation period lower than ≈12 d is necessary for the toroidal magnetic energy to dominate over the poloidal component.  相似文献   

Grain alignment in dense interstellar environments: spectropolarimetry of the 4.67-μm CO-ice feature in the field star Elias 16 (Taurus dark cloud)     

J. H. Hough  D. K. Aitken  D. C. B. Whittet  A. J. Adamson  A. Chrysostomou 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2008,387(2):797-802

We present spectropolarimetry of the solid CO feature at 4.67 μm along the line of sight to Elias 16, a field star background to the Taurus dark cloud. A clear increase in polarization is observed across the feature with the peak of polarization shifted in wavelength relative to the peak of absorption. This shows that dust grains in dense, cold environments (temperatures ∼20 K or less) can align and produce polarization by dichroic absorption. For a grain model, consisting of a core with a single mantle, the polarization feature is best modelled by a thick CO mantle, possibly including 10 per cent water-ice, with the volume ratio of mantle to bare grain of ∼5. Radiative torques could be responsible for the grain alignment provided the grain radius is at least 0.5 μm. This would require the grain cores to have a radius of at least 0.3 μm, much larger than grain sizes in the diffuse interstellar medium. Sizes of this order seem reasonable on the basis of independent evidence for grain growth by coagulation, as well as mantle formation, inside dense clouds.  相似文献   

On non-axisymmetric magnetic equilibria in stars     

Jonathan Braithwaite 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2008,386(4):1947-1958

In previous work, stable approximately axisymmetric equilibrium configurations for magnetic stars were found by numerical simulation. Here, I investigate the conditions under which more complex, non-axisymmetric configurations can form. I present numerical simulations of the formation of stable equilibria from turbulent initial conditions and demonstrate the existence of non-axisymmetric equilibria consisting of twisted flux tubes lying horizontally below the surface of the star, meandering around the star in random patterns. Whether such a non-axisymmetric equilibrium or a simple axisymmetric equilibrium forms depends on the radial profile of the strength of the initial magnetic field. The results could explain observations of non-dipolar fields on stars such as the B0.2 main-sequence star τ Sco or the pulsar 1E 1207.4-5209. The secular evolution of these equilibria due to Ohmic and buoyancy processes is also examined.  相似文献   

Solar coronal heating by magnetic cancellation – III. Thermodynamics     

B. von Rekowski  A. W. Hood 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2008,384(3):972-986

We present two-dimensional numerical magnetohydrodynamics simulations of a coronal X-ray bright point (XBP) caused by a cancelling magnetic feature (CMF). Cancellation is driven by converging motions of two magnetic bipolar sources. These sources are initially disconnected from each other so that both, the CMF and the associated reconnection/heating event (i.e. the XBP), are modelled in a self-consistent way. In the initial state, there is no X-point but two separatrices are present. Hence, the reconnection/heating and the cancellation phases have not yet started. Our numerical experiments end shortly after the converging magnetic bipole has fully cancelled. By this time, reconnection in the inner domain has ceased and occurs only at the base. Solving the energy equation with various heating and cooling terms included, and considering different bottom boundary conditions, reveals that the unrealistically high temperatures produced by Ohmic heating are reduced to more moderate temperatures of 1.5–2 MK consistent with observations of XBPs, if thermal conduction is included and density and temperature are fixed at the base.  相似文献   

Observations of Low-Latitude Coronal Plumes     

Y.-M. Wang  K. Muglach 《Solar physics》2008,249(1):17-35

Using Fe ix/x 17.1 nm observations from the Extreme-Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), we have identified many coronal plumes inside low-latitude coronal holes as they transited the solar limb during the late declining phase of cycle 23. These diffuse, linear features appear to be completely analogous to the familiar polar plumes. By tracking them as they rotate from the limb onto the disk (or vice versa), we confirm that EUV plumes seen against the disk appear as faint, diffuse blobs of emission surrounding a brighter core. When the EIT images are compared with near-simultaneous magnetograms from the SOHO Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI), the low-latitude, on-disk plumes are found to overlie regions of mixed polarity, where small bipoles are in contact with unipolar flux concentrations inside the coronal hole. The birth and decay of the plumes are shown to be closely related to the emergence of ephemeral regions, their dispersal in the supergranular flow field, and the cancellation of the minority-polarity flux against the dominant-polarity network elements. In addition to the faint polar and nonpolar plumes associated with ephemeral regions, we note the existence of two topologically similar coronal structures: the giant plume-like features that occur above active regions inside coronal holes, and the even larger scale “pseudostreamers” that separate coronal holes of the same polarity. In all three cases, the basic structure consists of open field lines of a given polarity overlying a photospheric region of the opposite polarity; ongoing interchange reconnection at the X-point separating the open field domains from the underlying double-arcade system appears to result in the steady evaporation of material from the closed into the open region.  相似文献   

Dynamo coefficients from local simulations of the turbulent ISM     

O. Gressel  U. Ziegler  D. Elstner  G. Rüdiger 《Astronomische Nachrichten》2008,329(6):619-624

Observations in polarized emission reveal the existence of large‐scale coherent magnetic fields in a wide range of spiral galaxies. Radio‐polarization data show that these fields are strongly inclined towards the radial direction, with pitch angles up to 35° and thus cannot be explained by differential rotation alone. Global dynamo models describe the generation of the radial magnetic field from the underlying turbulence via the so called α ‐effect. However, these global models still rely on crude assumptions about the small‐scale turbulence. To overcome these restrictions we perform fully dynamical MHD simulations of interstellar turbulence driven by supernova explosions. From our simulations we extract profiles of the contributing diagonal elements of the dynamo α ‐tensor as functions of galactic height. We also measure the coefficients describing vertical pumping and find that the ratio between these two effects has been overestimated in earlier analytical work, where dynamo action seemed impossible. In contradiction to these models based on isolated remnants we always find the pumping to be directed inward. In addition we observe that depends on whether clustering in terms of superbubbles is taken into account. Finally, we apply a test field method to derive a quantitative measure of the turbulent magnetic diffusivity which we determine to be ∼2 kpckms^–1. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)  相似文献   

Nonhelical mean‐field dynamos in a sheared turbulence     

I. Rogachevskii  N. Kleeorin 《Astronomische Nachrichten》2008,329(7):732-736

Mechanisms of nonhelical large‐scale dynamos (shear‐current dynamo and effect of homogeneous kinetic helicity fluctuations with zero mean) in a homogeneous turbulence with large‐scale shear are discussed. We have found that the shearcurrent dynamo can act even in random flows with small Reynolds numbers. However, in this case mean‐field dynamo requires small magnetic Prandtl numbers (i.e., when Pm < Pm^cr < 1). The threshold in the magnetic Prandtl number, Pm^cr = 0.24, is determined using second order correlation approximation (or first‐order smoothing approximation) for a background random flow with a scale‐dependent viscous correlation time τ_c = (νk 2)^–1 (where ν is the kinematic viscosity of the fluid and k is the wave number). For turbulent flows with large Reynolds numbers shear‐current dynamo occurs for arbitrary magnetic Prandtl numbers. This dynamo effect represents a very generic mechanism for generating large‐scale magnetic fields in a broad class of astrophysical turbulent systems with large‐scale shear. On the other hand, mean‐field dynamo due to homogeneous kinetic helicity fluctuations alone in a sheared turbulence is not realistic for a broad class of astrophysical systems because it requires a very specific random forcing of kinetic helicity fluctuations that contains, e.g., low‐frequency oscillations. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)  相似文献