Related papers: Seismic Sounding of Convection in the Sun
Convection in the solar interior is thought to comprise structures on a spectrum of scales. This conclusion emerges from phenomenological studies and numerical simulations, though neither covers the proper range of dynamical parameters of…
Surface granulation of the Sun is primarily a consequence of thermal transport in the outer 1 % of the radius. Its typical scale of about 1 - 2 Mm is set by the balance between convection, free-streaming radiation, and the strong density…
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…
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…
Convection is the predominant mechanism by which energy and angular momentum are transported in the outer portion of the Sun. The resulting overturning motions are also the primary energy source for the solar magnetic field. An accurate…
We present a high-resolution, highly stratified numerical simulation of rotating thermal convection in a spherical shell. Our aim is to study in detail the processes that can maintain a near surface shear layer (NSSL) as inferred from…
The differential rotation of the sun, as deduced from helioseismology, exhibits a prominent radial shear layer near the top of the convection zone wherein negative radial gradients of angular velocity are evident in the low- and…
Results of realistic simulations of solar surface convection on the scale of supergranules (96 Mm wide by 20 Mm deep) are presented. The simulations cover only 10% of the geometric depth of the solar convection zone, but half its pressure…
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…
Understanding convection is important in stellar physics, for example as an input in stellar evolution models. Helioseismic estimates of convective flow amplitudes in deeper regions of the solar interior disagree by orders of magnitude…
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…
We obtain lower limits on the amplitude of convective velocities in the deep solar convection zone based only on the observed properties of the differential rotation and meridional circulation together with simple and robust dynamical…
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 Sun's axisymmetric large-scale flows, differential rotation and meridional circulation, are thought to be maintained by the influence of rotation on the thermal-convective motions in the solar convection zone. These large-scale flows…
Convection plays a central role in the dynamics of any stellar interior, and yet its operation remains largely-hidden from direct observation. As a result, much of our understanding concerning stellar convection necessarily derives from…
Convection of an internally heated fluid, confined between top and bottom plates of equal temperature, is studied by direct numerical simulation in two and three dimensions. The unstably stratified upper region drives convection that…
Convection in the Sun occurs at Rayleigh numbers, $Ra$, as high as $10^{22}$, molecular Prandtl numbers, $Pr$, as low as $10^{-6}$, under conditions that are far from satisfying the Oberbeck-Boussinesq (OB) idealization. The effects of…
Turbulent convection in the interiors of the Sun and the Earth occurs at high Rayleigh numbers $Ra$, low Prandtl numbers $Pr$, and different levels of rotation rates. To understand the combined effects better, we study rotating turbulent…
The intense turbulence present in the solar convection zone is a major challenge to both theory and simulation as one tries to understand the origins of the striking differential rotation profile with radius and latitude that has been…
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…