Transport Effects in the Evolution of the Global Solar Magnetic Field

The axisymmetric component of the large-scale solar magnetic fields has a pronounced poleward branch at higher latitudes. In order to clarify the origin of this branch we construct an axisymmetric model of the passive transport of the mean poloidal magnetic field in the convective zone, including meridional circulation, anisotropic diffusivity, turbulent pumping and density pumping. For realistic values of the transport coefficients we find that diffusivity is prevalent, and the latitudinal distribution of the field at the surface simply reflects the conditions at the bottom of the convective zone. Pumping effects concentrate the field to the bottom of the convective zone; a significant part of this pumping occurs in a shallow subsurface layer, normally not resolved in dynamo models. The phase delay of the surface poloidal field relative to the bottom poloidal field is found to be small. These results support the double dynamo wave models, may be compatible with some form of a mixed transport scenario, and exclude the passive transport theory for the origin of the polar branch.     

Magnetic Turbulence and Ion Dynamics in the Magnetotail

The ion dynamics in the Earth's magnetotail is studied in the case when a cross tail electric field E ₀ and reconnection-driven magnetic turbulence are present in the current sheet. The magnetic turbulence observed by the Interball spacecraft is modeled numerically by a power law magnetic fluctuation spectrum. A test particle simulation is performed for the ions, and the distribution function moments are obtained as a function of the magnetic fluctuation level, δB/B ₀, and of the value of the normal component B _n. It appears that even in the presence of magnetic turbulence, the normal component has a marked influence on particle dynamics: the ion bulk velocity along E _y and ion temperature are almost inversely proportional to B _n. The magnetic turbulence causes the current to split in two layers, and the level of magnetic fluctuations needed to have splitting is roughly proportional to B _n. It appears that in the relevant range of parameters, B _n and δB/B ₀ have opposite effects on the current structure and on ion heating. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Anomalous He Acceleration,the Particle Source and the Transport Coefficient

Anomalous He⁺component acceleration at the heliospheric termination shock is modelled numerically via a steady-state solution to the combined cosmic-ray transport equation and shock boundary condition via a matrix inversion technique. This numerical solution automatically provides a no-drift modulation solution for the He⁺. Consistency with experimental data on the anomalous component is obtained for injection at 10 keV nucl^-1, at 120 AU, with a distribution function f(v)=2.75 × 10^-24 m^-6 s³ and a radial diffusion coefficient k=2.24× 10²² cm² s^-1 at 20 AU and for 100 MeV nucl^-1 particles but which varied proportional to v r where v and r are, respectively, particle velocity and solar distance,=1.3 and =0.5. However, a range of values of (,) between (1,0) and (2.4,1.4) were found to yield acceptable fits to the data. Pre-acceleration of ionised He at CIRs is possible as a source, although there is sufficient quiet-solar-wind-associated He⁺ for the required injection flux and the constraints on the injection efficiency are less at the terminal shock. These conclusions are insensitive to the terminal shock position and to the value of the injection energy.     

Shock Waves, Turbulence and Line Broadening Phenomena in RR Lyrae

Recent results based on high resolution spectral observations of RR Lyrae are presented. They mainly concern the effects of the propagation of strong shock waves in the atmosphere. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) Vector Magnetic Field Pipeline: Optimization of the Spectral Line Inversion Code

The Very Fast Inversion of the Stokes Vector (VFISV) is a Milne–Eddington spectral line inversion code used to determine the magnetic and thermodynamic parameters of the solar photosphere from observations of the Stokes vector in the 6173 Å Fe i line by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). We report on the modifications made to the original VFISV inversion code in order to optimize its operation within the HMI data pipeline and provide the smoothest solution in active regions. The changes either sped up the computation or reduced the frequency with which the algorithm failed to converge to a satisfactory solution. Additionally, coding bugs which were detected and fixed in the original VFISV release are reported here.     

Alpha-Effect,Helicity and Angular Momentum Transport for a Magnetically Driven Turbulence in the Solar Convection Zone

Solar Physics - For a given field of magnetic fluctuations the dynamo-α, as well as the kinetic and current helicities, have been computed, assuming that turbulence is subject to magnetic...     

Magnetic Field Extrapolations into the Corona: Success and Future Improvements

The solar atmosphere being magnetic in nature, the understanding of the structure and evolution of the magnetic field in different regions of the solar atmosphere has been an important task over the past decades. This task has been made complicated by the difficulties to measure the magnetic field in the corona, while it is currently known with a good accuracy in the photosphere and/or chromosphere. Thus, to determine the coronal magnetic field, a mathematical method has been developed based on the observed magnetic field. This is the so-called magnetic field extrapolation technique. This technique relies on two crucial points: i) the physical assumption leading to the system of differential equations to be solved, ii) the choice and quality of the associated boundary conditions. In this review, I summarise the physical assumptions currently in use and the findings at different scales in the solar atmosphere. I concentrate the discussion on the extrapolation techniques applied to solar magnetic data and the comparison with observations in a broad range of wavelengths (from hard X-rays to radio emission).     

Background-Induced Measurement Errors of the Coronal Intensity, Density, Velocity, and Magnetic Field

The effect of a background signal on the signal-to-noise ratio is discussed, with particular application to ground-based observations of emission lines in the solar corona with the proposed Advanced Technology Solar Telescope. The concepts of effective coronal aperture and effective coronal integration time are introduced. Specific expressions are developed for the 1 measurement errors for coronal intensity, coronal electron density, coronal velocity, and coronal magnetic field measurements using emission lines and including a background.     

Supersonic Ambipolar Diffusion: Estimating the Magnetic Field Strength in Protostellar Outflows

The magnetic field plays a crucial role in star formation. It is involved in rotational braking, collapse braking, outflow formation and jet collimation. Direct observations of the field are difficult. However, the field can be indirectly estimated through the field-cushioned C-shocks which produce strong infrared molecular emission lines. In particular, a high field in the outflows will generate the ‘shock absorber’ signature: very broad H₂lines. Such lines are indeed observed. Here we summarise recent progress in C-shock formation and stability. We demonstrate numerically that the Shock Absorbers are evolutionary and stable. The widths of H₂lines then limit the magnetic field strength. A field of 6 mG is suggested for HH 212. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Reconstruction of Open Solar Magnetic Flux and Interplanetary Magnetic Field in the 20Th Century

We reconstruct mean magnitudes of the open solar magnetic field since 1915 using α magnetic synoptic charts of the Sun. The obtained series allows estimation of the interplanetary magnetic field. They also confirm the known conclusion about the secular increase of the solar open magnetic flux in the first half of the 20th century.     

Blazar Observations in Infrared and Optical Regions: Magnetic Field Strength Evaluation

A brief review of the methods to evaluate the strength of magnetic fields in blazars on some examples using observational data is presented.     

3-D Rpic Simulations of Relativistic Jets: Particle Acceleration, Magnetic Field Generation, and Emission

We have applied numerical simulations and modeling to the particle acceleration, magnetic field generation, and emission from relativistic shocks. We investigate the nonlinear stage of theWeibel instability and compare our simulations with the observed gamma-ray burst emission. In collisionless shocks, plasma waves and their associated instabilities (e.g., the Weibel, Buneman and other two-stream instabilities) are responsible for particle (electron, positron, and ion) acceleration and magnetic field generation. 3-D relativistic electromagnetic particle (REMP) simulations with three different electron-positron jet velocity distributions and also with an electron-ion plasma have been performed and show shock processes including spatial and temporal evolution of shocks in unmagnetized ambient plasmas. The growth time and nonlinear saturation levels depend on the initial jet parallel velocity distributions. Simulations show that the Weibel instability created in the collisionless shocks accelerates jet and ambient particles both perpendicular and parallel to the jet propagation direction. The nonlinear fluctuation amplitude of densities, currents, electric, and magnetic fields in the electron-positron shocks are larger for smaller jet Lorentz factor. This comes from the fact that the growth time of the Weibel instability is proportional to the square of the jet Lorentz factor. We have performed simulations with broad Lorentz factor distribution of jet electrons and positrons, which is assumed to be created by photon annihilation. Simulation results with this broad distribution show that the Weibel instability is excited continuously by the wide-range of jet Lorentz factor from lower to higher values. In all simulations the Weibel instability is responsible for generating and amplifying magnetic fields perpendicular to the jet propagation direction, and contributes to the electron’s (positron’s) transverse deflection behind the jet head. This small scale magnetic field structure contributes to the generation of “jitter” radiation from deflected electrons (positrons), which is different from synchrotron radiation in uniform magnetic fields. The jitter radiation resulting from small scale magnetic field structures may be important for understanding the complex time structure and spectral evolution observed in gamma-ray bursts or other astrophysical sources containing relativistic jets and relativistic collisionless shocks. The detailed studies of shock microscopic process evolution may provide some insights into early and later GRB afterglows.     

Influence Of Stray Light in the Instrument on Measurements of Longitudinal Magnetic Signals and Magnetic Field Azimuths

Magnetic saturation is investigated by numerical simulations and observations. It is found that this effect is not a main disturbance factor in measurements of longitudinal field signals. To examine the stray light in the instrument in magnetograph observations, we determined the point spread function of the Video Vector Magnetograph mounted on the Solar Magnetic Field Telescope (SMFT) installed at the Huairou Solar Observing Station (HSOS). Then we obtained the distribution of large-spread-angle (LSA) stray light intensity as a function of distance from disk center. A new way to correct LSA stray light is proposed. Also, we investigate stray light influence on measuring magnetic field azimuths.     

AR6659区伴随米波射电爆发的光学形态和磁场速度场特征

利用云南天文台声光频谱议１９９１年６月观测到的来自６６５９活动区的米波射电爆发记录,及其光学活动、磁场速度场的资料,作了分析研究。得到了一些有意义的结果     

On the Magnetic Field Orientation and Plasma Flows in Solar Filament Barbs

Speeds of vertical flows in quiescent solar filaments are typically much less than the local Alfvén speed. This is why the flows in filament barbs can be modeled by perturbing a magnetostatic solution describing a balance between the Lorentz force, gravity, and gas pressure in a barb. This approach explains why some of the flows are neither aligned with the magnetic field nor controlled by gravity. Both the observed upflows and the magnetic field dips in barbs are likely to be caused by photospheric magnetic reconnection.     

分子云浓核的密度和磁场

利用均匀磁化球模型，对OrionB云中的39个分子云浓核，从它们观测的源半径和分子线线宽，推求它们的数密度和磁场．得到平均磁场110μG，平均密度为8×104／cm3．这些计算值与观测结果一致．对于R＞0．2pc的分子云浓核，利用均匀磁化球模型推求磁场和数密度的方法是一种可行的方法．     

Magnetic Field in Selected Directions of the Galaxy, Direction of the Spiral Arm of Sagittarius

Faraday rotation data on 40 pulsars are used in a detailed study of the magnetic field and its fluctuations in the direction of the spiral arm of Sagittarius. These results mostly agree with standard models for the galactic magnetic field. A magnetic field on the order of 3.2 G is directed from galactic longitude l ₀=55° (toward the sun). However, an asymmetry has been found in the degrees of rotation relative to a plane lying in the southern hemisphere parallel to the galactic plane and at a distance of 50-60 pc from it. All the pulsars with measures of dispersion greater than 30 pc·cm^-3 and lying to the north of this plane have positive measures of rotation which increase linearly with distance, while the pulsars lying to the south of this plane have unusually absolutely low negative measures of rotation. We propose that the spiral arm of Sagittarius lies entirely to the north of this plane, while the negative measures of rotation of the pulsars below this plane are caused by the magnetic field of the halo of the southern hemisphere of the galaxy. The magnetic field in the arm of Sagittarius is regular to a great extent and its fluctuating component is roughly half the regular component.