A New Model for Stellar Magnetism

AbstractDifferent drift velocities of electrons and ions in response to viscous forces exerted by neutral atoms generate current density j and magnetic field B, where B is proportional to vorticity ω of the fluid. Magnetic vortex tubes (MVTs) form arrays on a hierarchy of scales. MVTs are basic to the magnetism of all astrophysical systems, conferring a structure of aligned filaments. In the Sun a torsional oscillation generates oscillatory vorticity, and hence an oscillatory magnetic field. The same mechanism is proposed for the Ap stars, but with “pole-on” viewing. Resonance-line radiation pressure segregates elements within MVTs of Ap stars, where the anomalous concentrations are preserved. However, variation of the 30 MG magnetic fields of AM Her white dwarfs may be due to precession of an MVT. There is reason to attribute common magnetic flux to the Sun, Ap stars, white dwarfs and neutron stars

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Emergence of Twisted Magnetic Flux Related Sigmoidal Brightening

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100064630 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 179 ◽

pp. 263-264

Author(s):

K. Sundara Raman ◽

K. B. Ramesh ◽

R. Selvendran ◽

P. S. M. Aleem ◽

K. M. Hiremath

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Field ◽

Magnetic Fields ◽

Magnetic Flux ◽

Ultra Violet ◽

Active Regions ◽

Morphological Properties ◽

Energy Storage And Conversion ◽

The Sun ◽

X Rays ◽

The Magnetic Field

Extended AbstractWe have examined the morphological properties of a sigmoid associated with an SXR (soft X-ray) flare. The sigmoid is cospatial with the EUV (extreme ultra violet) images and in the optical part lies along an S-shaped Hαfilament. The photoheliogram shows flux emergence within an existingδtype sunspot which has caused the rotation of the umbrae giving rise to the sigmoidal brightening.It is now widely accepted that flares derive their energy from the magnetic fields of the active regions and coronal levels are considered to be the flare sites. But still a satisfactory understanding of the flare processes has not been achieved because of the difficulties encountered to predict and estimate the probability of flare eruptions. The convection flows and vortices below the photosphere transport and concentrate magnetic field, which subsequently appear as active regions in the photosphere (Rust & Kumar 1994 and the references therein). Successive emergence of magnetic flux, twist the field, creating flare productive magnetic shear and has been studied by many authors (Sundara Ramanet al.1998 and the references therein). Hence, it is considered that the flare is powered by the energy stored in the twisted magnetic flux tubes (Kurokawa 1996 and the references therein). Rust & Kumar (1996) named the S-shaped bright coronal loops that appear in soft X-rays as ‘Sigmoids’ and concluded that this S-shaped distortion is due to the twist developed in the magnetic field lines. These transient sigmoidal features tell a great deal about unstable coronal magnetic fields, as these regions are more likely to be eruptive (Canfieldet al.1999). As the magnetic fields of the active regions are deep rooted in the Sun, the twist developed in the subphotospheric flux tube penetrates the photosphere and extends in to the corona. Thus, it is essentially favourable for the subphotospheric twist to unwind the twist and transmit it through the photosphere to the corona. Therefore, it becomes essential to make complete observational descriptions of a flare from the magnetic field changes that are taking place in different atmospheric levels of the Sun, to pin down the energy storage and conversion process that trigger the flare phenomena.

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Polar Magnetic Field Reversals of the Sun in Maunder Minimum

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100064472 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 179 ◽

pp. 193-196

Author(s):

V. I. Makarov ◽

A. G. Tlatov

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Field ◽

Maunder Minimum ◽

The Sun ◽

Annual Rings ◽

Field Reversal ◽

Polar Magnetic Field ◽

Pine Trees ◽

Using Data ◽

Magnetic Field Reversal

AbstractA possible scenario of polar magnetic field reversal of the Sun during the Maunder Minimum (1645–1715) is discussed using data of magnetic field reversals of the Sun for 1880–1991 and the14Ccontent variations in the bi-annual rings of the pine-trees in 1600–1730 yrs.

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Peculiarity Parameters

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100080581 ◽

1976 ◽

Vol 32 ◽

pp. 233-254

Author(s):

H. M. Maitzen

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Field ◽

Magnetic Fields ◽

Theoretical Work ◽

Observational Evidence ◽

Rotator Model ◽

Peculiar Behaviour ◽

Field Spectrum ◽

Oblique Rotator ◽

Ap Stars ◽

The Way

Ap stars are peculiar in many aspects. During this century astronomers have been trying to collect data about these and have found a confusing variety of peculiar behaviour even from star to star that Struve stated in 1942 that at least we know that these phenomena are not supernatural. A real push to start deeper theoretical work on Ap stars was given by an additional observational evidence, namely the discovery of magnetic fields on these stars by Babcock (1947). This originated the concept that magnetic fields are the cause for spectroscopic and photometric peculiarities. Great leaps for the astronomical mankind were the Oblique Rotator model by Stibbs (1950) and Deutsch (1954), which by the way provided mathematical tools for the later handling pulsar geometries, anti the discovery of phase coincidence of the extrema of magnetic field, spectrum and photometric variations (e.g. Jarzebowski, 1960).

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Energetics of magnetic transients in a solar active region plage

Astronomy and Astrophysics ◽

10.1051/0004-6361/201834548 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 623 ◽

pp. A176 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

L. P. Chitta ◽

A. R. C. Sukarmadji ◽

L. Rouppe van der Voort ◽

H. Peter

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Field ◽

Active Region ◽

Magnetic Flux ◽

Numerical Simulations ◽

Extreme Ultraviolet ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Coronal Loops ◽

The Sun ◽

Flux Emergence ◽

Transient Events

Context. Densely packed coronal loops are rooted in photospheric plages in the vicinity of active regions on the Sun. The photospheric magnetic features underlying these plage areas are patches of mostly unidirectional magnetic field extending several arcsec on the solar surface. Aims. We aim to explore the transient nature of the magnetic field, its mixed-polarity characteristics, and the associated energetics in the active region plage using high spatial resolution observations and numerical simulations. Methods. We used photospheric Fe I 6173 Å spectropolarimetric observations of a decaying active region obtained from the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST). These data were inverted to retrieve the photospheric magnetic field underlying the plage as identified in the extreme-ultraviolet emission maps obtained from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). To obtain better insight into the evolution of extended unidirectional magnetic field patches on the Sun, we performed 3D radiation magnetohydrodynamic simulations of magnetoconvection using the MURaM code. Results. The observations show transient magnetic flux emergence and cancellation events within the extended predominantly unipolar patch on timescales of a few 100 s and on spatial scales comparable to granules. These transient events occur at the footpoints of active region plage loops. In one case the coronal response at the footpoints of these loops is clearly associated with the underlying transient. The numerical simulations also reveal similar magnetic flux emergence and cancellation events that extend to even smaller spatial and temporal scales. Individual simulated transient events transfer an energy flux in excess of 1 MW m−2 through the photosphere. Conclusions. We suggest that the magnetic transients could play an important role in the energetics of active region plage. Both in observations and simulations, the opposite-polarity magnetic field brought up by transient flux emergence cancels with the surrounding plage field. Magnetic reconnection associated with such transient events likely conduits magnetic energy to power the overlying chromosphere and coronal loops.

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Broadband Linear Polarization in Ap Stars

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100020662 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 138 ◽

pp. 305-309

Author(s):

Marco Landolfi ◽

Egidio Landi Degl’Innocenti ◽

Maurizio Landi Degl’Innocenti ◽

Jean-Louis Leroy ◽

Stefano Bagnulo

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Field ◽

Circular Polarization ◽

Linear Polarization ◽

Rotation Axis ◽

Spectral Lines ◽

Line Of Sight ◽

Long Time ◽

Rotating Star ◽

Ap Stars ◽

The Magnetic Field

AbstractBroadband linear polarization in the spectra of Ap stars is believed to be due to differential saturation between σ and π Zeeman components in spectral lines. This mechanism has been known for a long time to be the main agent of a similar phenomenon observed in sunspots. Since this phenomenon has been carefully calibrated in the solar case, it can be confidently used to deduce the magnetic field of Ap stars.Given the magnetic configuration of a rotating star, it is possible to deduce the broadband polarization at any phase. Calculations performed for the oblique dipole model show that the resulting polarization diagrams are very sensitive to the values of i (the angle between the rotation axis and the line of sight) and β (the angle between the rotation and magnetic axes). The dependence on i and β is such that the four-fold ambiguity typical of the circular polarization observations ((i,β), (β,i), (π-i,π-β), (π-β,π-i)) can be removed.

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