Self-organized multiscale structures in thermally relativistic electron-positron-ion plasmas

The self-organization of a thermally relativistic magnetized plasma comprising of electrons, positrons and static ions is investigated. The self-organized state is found to be the superposition of three distinct Beltrami fields known as triple Beltrami (TB) state. In general, the eigenvalues associated with the multiscale self-organized vortices may be a pair of complex conjugate and real one. It is shown that all the eigenvalues become real when thermal energy increases or the positron density decreases. The impact of relativistic temperature and positron density on the formation of self-organized structures is investigated. The self-organized field and flow vortices may vary simultaneously on vastly different length scales. The disparate variation of self-organized vortices is important in the context of dynamo theory. The present work is useful to study the formation of multiscale vortices and dynamo mechanisms in multi-species thermally relativistic plasmas.

On the shear-current effect: Toward understanding why theories and simulations have mutually and separately conflicted

The shear-current effect (SCE) of mean-field dynamo theory refers to the combination of a shear flow and a turbulent coefficient β21 with a favorable negative sign for exponential mean-field growth, rather than positive for diffusion. There have been long standing disagreements among theoretical calculations and comparisons of theory with numerical experiments as to the sign of kinetic ($\beta ^u_{21}$) and magnetic ($\beta ^b_{21}$) contributions. To resolve these discrepancies, we combine an analytical approach with simulations, and show that unlike $\beta ^b_{21}$, the kinetic SCE $\beta ^u_{21}$ has a strong dependence on the kinetic energy spectral index and can transit from positive to negative values at $\mathcal {O}(10)$ Reynolds numbers if the spectrum is not too steep. Conversely, $\beta ^b_{21}$ is always negative regardless of the spectral index and Reynolds numbers. For very steep energy spectra, the positive $\beta ^u_{21}$ can dominate even at energy equipartition urms ≃ brms, resulting in a positive total β21 even though $\beta ^b_{21}<0$. Our findings bridge the gap between the seemingly contradictory results from the second-order-correlation approximation (SOCA) versus the spectral-τ closure (STC), for which opposite signs for $\beta ^u_{21}$ have been reported, with the same sign for $\beta ^b_{21}<0$. The results also offer an explanation for the simulations that find $\beta ^u_{21}>0$ and an inconclusive overall sign of β21 for $\mathcal {O}(10)$ Reynolds numbers. The transient behaviour of $\beta ^u_{21}$ is demonstrated using the kinematic test-field method. We compute dynamo growth rates for cases with or without rotation, and discuss opportunities for further work.

Axisymmetric dynamo action produced by differential rotation, with anisotropic electrical conductivity and anisotropic magnetic permeability

The effect on dynamo action of an anisotropic electrical conductivity conjugated to an anisotropic magnetic permeability is considered. Not only is the dynamo fully axisymmetric, but it requires only a simple differential rotation, which twice challenges the well-established dynamo theory. Stability analysis is conducted entirely analytically, leading to an explicit expression of the dynamo threshold. The results show a competition between the anisotropy of electrical conductivity and that of magnetic permeability, the dynamo effect becoming impossible if the two anisotropies are identical. For isotropic electrical conductivity, Cowling's neutral point argument does imply the absence of an azimuthal component of current density, but does not prevent the dynamo effect as long as the magnetic permeability is anisotropic.

Activity–rotation in the dM4 star Gl 729

Aims. Recently, new debates about the role of layers of strong shear have emerged in stellar dynamo theory. Further information on the long-term magnetic activity of fully convective stars could help determine whether their underlying dynamo could sustain activity cycles similar to the solar one. Methods. We performed a thorough study of the short- and long-term magnetic activity of the young active dM4 star Gl 729. First, we analyzed long-cadence K2 photometry to characterize its transient events (e.g., flares) and global and surface differential rotation. Then, from the Mount Wilson S-indexes derived from CASLEO spectra and other public observations, we analyzed its long-term activity between 1998 and 2020 with four different time-domain techniques to detect cyclic patterns. Finally, we explored the chromospheric activity at different heights with simultaneous measurements of the Hα and the Na I D indexes, and we analyzed their relations with the S-Index. Results. We found that the cumulative flare frequency follows a power-law distribution with slope ~−0.73 for the range 1032–1034 erg. We obtained Prot = (2.848 ± 0.001) days, and we found no evidence of differential rotation. We also found that this young active star presents a long-term activity cycle with a length of about 4 yr; there is less significant evidence of a shorter cycle of 0.8 yr. The star also shows a broad activity minimum between 1998 and 2004. We found a correlation between the S index, on the one hand, and the Hα the Na I D indexes, on the other hand, although the saturation level of these last two indexes is not observed in the Ca lines. Conclusions. Because the maximum-entropy spot model does not reflect migration between active longitudes, this activity cycle cannot be explained by a solar-type dynamo. It is probably caused by an α2-dynamo.

Mean-Field Dynamo Model in Anisotropic Uniform Turbulent Flow with Short-Time Correlations

The mean-field model is one of the basic models of the dynamo theory, which describes the magnetic field generation in a turbulent astrophysical plasma. The first mean-field equations were obtained by Steenbeck, Krause and Rädler for two-scale turbulence under isotropy and uniformity assumptions. In this article we develop the path integral approach to obtain mean-field equations for a short-correlated random velocity field in anisotropic streams. By this model we analyse effects of anisotropy and show the relation between dynamo growth and anisotropic tensors of helicity/turbulent diffusivity. Considering particular examples and comparing results with isotropic cases we demonstrate several mean-field effects: super-exponential growth at initial times, complex dependence of harmonics growth on the helicity tensor structure, when generation is possible for near-zero component or near-zero helicity trace, increase of the averaged magnetic field inclined to the initial current density that leads to effective Lorentz back-reaction and violation of force-free conditions.

An application of a solar-type dynamo model for ε Eridani

ABSTRACT During the last decade, the relation between activity cycle periods and stellar parameters has received special attention. The construction of reliable registries of activity reveals that solar-type stars exhibit activity cycles with periods from few years to decades and, in some cases, long and short activity cycles coexist suggesting that two dynamos could operate in these stars. In particular, ε Eridani is an active young K2V star (0.8 Gyr), which exhibits short and long-term chromospheric cycles of ∼3 and ∼13-yr periods. Additionally, between 1985 and 1992, the star went through a broad activity minimum, similar to the solar Maunder Minimum state. Motivated by these results, we found in ε Eridani a great opportunity to test the dynamo theory. Based on the model developed in Sraibman & Minotti, in this work we built a non-linear axisymmetric dynamo for ε Eridani. The time series of the simulated magnetic field components near the surface integrated in all the stellar disc exhibits both the long and short activity cycles with periods similar to the ones detected from observations and also time intervals of low activity that could be associated with the broad Minimum. The short activity cycle associated with the magnetic reversal could be explained by the differential rotation, while the long cycle is associated with the meridional mass flows induced by the Lorentz force. In this way, we show that a single non-linear dynamo model derived from first principles with accurate stellar parameters could reproduce coexisting activity cycles.

The importance of magnetic fields for the initial mass function of the first stars

ABSTRACT Magnetic fields play an important role for the formation of stars in both local and high-redshift galaxies. Recent studies of dynamo amplification in the first dark matter haloes suggest that significant magnetic fields were likely present during the formation of the first stars in the Universe at redshifts of 15 and above. In this work, we study how these magnetic fields potentially impact the initial mass function (IMF) of the first stars. We perform 200 high-resolution, three-dimensional (3D), magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the collapse of primordial clouds with different initial turbulent magnetic field strengths as predicted from turbulent dynamo theory in the early Universe, forming more than 1100 first stars in total. We detect a strong statistical signature of suppressed fragmentation in the presence of strong magnetic fields, leading to a dramatic reduction in the number of first stars with masses low enough that they might be expected to survive to the present-day. Additionally, strong fields shift the transition point where stars go from being mostly single to mostly multiple to higher masses. However, irrespective of the field strength, individual simulations are highly chaotic, show different levels of fragmentation and clustering, and the outcome depends on the exact realization of the turbulence in the primordial clouds. While these are still idealized simulations that do not start from cosmological initial conditions, our work shows that magnetic fields play a key role for the primordial IMF, potentially even more so than for the present-day IMF.

Wavelet analysis of the long-term activity of V833 Tau

ABSTRACT The bulk of available stellar activity observations is frequently checked for the manifestation of signs in comparison with the known characteristic of solar magnetic modulation. The problem is that stellar activity records are usually an order of magnitude shorter than available observations of solar activity variation. Therefore, the resolved time-scales of stellar activity are insufficient to decide reliably that a cyclic variation for a particular star is similar to the well-known 11-yr sunspot cycles. As a result, recent studies report several stars with double or multiple cycles which serve to challenge the underlying theoretical understanding. This is why a consistent method to separate ‘true’ cycles from stochastic variations is required. In this paper, we suggest that a conservative method, based on the best practice of wavelet analysis previously applied to the study of solar activity, for studying and interpreting the longest available stellar activity record – photometric monitoring of V833 Tau for more than 100 yr. We find that the observed variations of V833 Tau with time-scales of 2–50 yr should be comparable with the known quasi-periodic solar mid-term variations, whereas the true cycle of V833 Tau, if it exists, should be of about a century or even longer. We argue that this conclusion does not contradict the expectations from the stellar dynamo theory.

The mean tilt of sunspot bipolar regions: theory, simulations and comparison with observations

ABSTRACT A theory of the mean tilt of sunspot bipolar regions (the angle between a line connecting the leading and following sunspots and the solar equator) is developed. A mechanism of formation of the mean tilt is related to the effect of the Coriolis force on meso-scale motions of super-granular convection and large-scale meridional circulation. The balance between the Coriolis force and the Lorentz force (the magnetic tension) determines an additional contribution caused by the large-scale magnetic field to the mean tilt of the sunspot bipolar regions at low latitudes. The latitudinal dependence of the solar differential rotation affects the mean tilt, which can explain deviations from Joy’s law for the sunspot bipolar regions at high latitudes. The theoretical results obtained and the results from numerical simulations based on the non-linear mean-field dynamo theory, which takes into account conservation of the total magnetic helicity and the budget equation for the evolution of the Wolf number density, are in agreement with observational data of the mean tilt of sunspot bipolar regions over individual solar cycles 15–24.