Magnetic Wreaths and Cycles in Convective Dynamos

TL;DR

This study uses 3D MHD simulations to explore how reducing artificial diffusion in convective dynamos leads to magnetic cycles, wreath formation, and buoyant magnetic loops, shedding light on stellar magnetic activity.

Contribution

It demonstrates that decreasing diffusion in turbulent dynamo models enables magnetic cycles and wreath reversals, advancing understanding of stellar magnetic phenomena.

Findings

Magnetic wreaths form and reverse cyclically at low diffusion levels.

Reduced diffusion enhances turbulence, leading to magnetic buoyancy and flux emergence.

Simulations suggest similar processes may occur in the Sun and solar-type stars.

Abstract

Solar-type stars exhibit a rich variety of magnetic activity. Seeking to explore the convective origins of this activity, we have carried out a series of global 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations with the anelastic spherical harmonic (ASH) code. Here we report on the dynamo mechanisms achieved as the effects of artificial diffusion are systematically decreased. The simulations are carried out at a nominal rotation rate of three times the solar value (3$\Omega_\odot$), but similar dynamics may also apply to the Sun. Our previous simulations demonstrated that convective dynamos can build persistent toroidal flux structures (magnetic wreaths) in the midst of a turbulent convection zone and that high rotation rates promote the cyclic reversal of these wreaths. Here we demonstrate that magnetic cycles can also be achieved by reducing the diffusion, thus increasing the Reynolds and magnetic Reynolds numbers. In these more turbulent models, diffusive processes no longer play a significant role in the key dynamical balances that establish and maintain the differential rotation and magnetic wreaths. Magnetic reversals are attributed to an imbalance in the poloidal magnetic induction by convective motions that is stabilized at higher diffusion levels. Additionally, the enhanced levels of turbulence lead to greater intermittency in the toroidal magnetic wreaths, promoting the generation of buoyant magnetic loops that rise from the deep interior to the upper regions of our simulated domain. The implications of such turbulence-induced magnetic buoyancy for solar and stellar flux emergence are also discussed.