Related papers: Anomalously Weak Solar Convection
This paper considers the dominant dynamical, thermal and rotational balances within the solar convection zone. The reasoning is such that: Coriolis forces balance pressure gradients. Background vortex stretching, baroclinic torques and…
We constrain the velocity spectral distribution of global-scale solar convective cells at depth using techniques of local helioseismology. We calibrate the sensitivity of helioseismic waves to large-scale convective cells in the interior by…
Our Sun, primarily composed of ionized hydrogen and helium, has a surface temperature of 5777~K and a radius $R_\odot \approx 696,000$ km. In the outer $R_\odot/3$, energy transport is accomplished primarily by convection. Using typical…
The solar convection zone rotates differentially, with its equatorial region rotating more rapidly than the polar regions. This form of differential rotation, also observed in many other low-mass stars, is understood to arise when Coriolis…
The Sun's complex dynamics is controlled by buoyancy and rotation in the convection zone and by magnetic forces in the atmosphere and corona. While small-scale solar convection is well understood, the dynamics of large-scale flows in the…
Understanding solar turbulent convection and its influence on differential rotation has been a challenge over the past two decades. Current models often overestimate giant convection cells amplitude, leading to an effective Rossby number…
The overall framework for the study of solar convection and oscillations is the spherically symmetric component of solar structure. I discuss those properties of the solar interior which depend on convection and other possible…
We present self-consistent numerical simulations of the sun's convection zone and radiative interior using a two-dimensional model of its equatorial plane. The background reference state is a one-dimensional solar structure model. Turbulent…
Convection is the mechanism by which energy is transported through the outermost 30% of the Sun. Solar turbulent convection is notoriously difficult to model across the entire convection zone where the density spans many orders of…
Helioseismology has provided very detailed inferences about rotation of the solar interior. Within the convection zone the rotation rate roughly shares the latitudinal variation seen in the surface differential rotation. The transition to…
The Sun supports a rich spectrum of internal waves that are continuously excited by turbulent convection. The GONG network and the MDI/SOHO space instrument provide an exceptional data base of spatially-resolved observations of solar…
Context: The solar rotation profile is conical rather than cylindrical as one could expect from classical rotating fluid dynamics (e.g. Taylor-Proudman theorem). Thermal coupling to the tachocline, baroclinic effects and latitudinal…
Meridional circulation regulates the Sun's interior dynamics and magnetism. While it is well accepted that meridional flows are poleward at the Sun's surface, helioseismic observations have yet to provide a definitive answer for the depth…
We model the solar horizontal velocity power spectrum at scales larger than granulation using a two-component approximation to the mass continuity equation. The model takes four times the density scale height as the integral (driving) scale…
We investigate how rotationally-constrained, deep convection might give rise to supergranulation, the largest distinct spatial scale of convection observed in the solar photosphere. While supergranulation is only weakly influenced by…
Spectral analysis of the spatial structure of solar subphotospheric convection is carried out for subsurface flow maps constructed using the time--distance helioseismological technique. The source data are obtained from the Helioseismic and…
Solar oscillations consist of a rich spectrum of internal acoustic waves and surface gravity waves, stochastically excited by turbulent convection. They have been monitored almost continuously over the last ten years with high-precision…
Helioseismic inversions reveal a major discrepancy in sound speed between the Sun and the standard solar model just below the base of solar convection zone. We demonstrate that this discrepancy is caused by the inherent shortcomings of the…
Differences between observed and theoretical eigenfrequencies of the Sun have characteristics which identify them as arising predominantly from properties of the oscillations in the vicinity of the solar surface: in the super-adiabatic,…
Helioseismic observations have detected small temporal variations of the rotation rate below the solar surface corresponding to the so-called `torsional oscillations' known from Doppler measurements of the surface. These appear as bands of…