Numerical Simulations of Buoyant Magnetic Flux Tubes
Citations Over TimeTop 11% of 2000 papers
Abstract
Most new magnetic flux arrives at the surface of the Sun through the emergence of bipolar regions. These regions, which are often associated with a pair of sunspots, are generally thought to correspond to Ω-shaped flux tubes breaking through the solar surface. It seems likely that these flux tubes originate in the convective overshoot layer below the convection zone; an outstanding problem for theorists, therefore, is to account for this rise. Here we present results of a large number of two- and three-dimensional numerical simulations of buoyant magnetic flux tubes. Untwisted magnetic flux tubes are severely deformed as a consequence of the formation of regions of strong vorticity within the tube. Interactions between tubes can lead to trapping of coherent regions of field. For tubes constrained to rise in a two-dimensional manner (no variation along the tube) this deformation and loss of identity of the tube can be reduced if the magnetic field of the tube is twisted. However, in three dimensions, strongly twisted tubes may, depending on the precise form of the twist, be susceptible to the kink instability.
Related Papers
- → Submergence of magnetic flux in interaction of sunspot groups(2001)10 cited
- → Distribution of sunspots according to their magnetic fluxes(1982)5 cited
- → On the characteristics of the basic framework of solar active regions and the magnetohydrodynamical structure of the convection zone(1973)15 cited
- → Evolution of a Magnetic Flux Tube in a Sunspot Penumbra(1995)
- Evolution of a Magnetic Flux Tube in a Sunspot Penumbra(1996)