Tidally excited gravity waves in the cores of solar-type stars: resonances and critical-layer formation

TL;DR

This study uses hydrodynamical simulations to explore how nonlinear gravity waves in solar-type star cores are excited, resonate, and form critical layers, revealing complex interactions affecting stellar tidal dynamics.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the nonlinear behavior of tidally excited gravity waves, including resonance effects and critical-layer formation, in the stellar core.

Findings

Resonances with standing g-modes occur at specific frequencies for low-amplitude forcing.

High-amplitude forcing leads to wave breaking and core spin-up, forming critical layers.

Intermediate amplitudes can alter resonance conditions and core rotation, affecting tidal torque.

Abstract

We simulate the propagation and dissipation of tidally induced nonlinear gravity waves in the cores of solar-type stars. We perform hydrodynamical simulations of a previously developed Boussinesq model using a spectral-element code to study the stellar core as a wave cavity that is periodically forced at the outer boundary with a given azimuthal wavenumber and an adjustable frequency. For low-amplitude forcing, the system exhibits resonances with standing g-modes at particular frequencies, corresponding to a situation in which the tidal torque is highly frequency-dependent. For high-amplitude forcing, the excited waves break promptly near the centre and spin up the core so that subsequent waves are absorbed in an expanding critical layer, as found in previous work, leading to a tidal torque with a smooth frequency-dependence. For intermediate-amplitude forcing, we find that linear damping of the waves gradually spins up the core such that the resonance condition can be altered drastically. The system can evolve towards or away from g-mode resonances, depending on the difference between the forcing frequency and the closest eigenfrequency. Eventually, a critical layer forms and absorbs the incoming waves, leading to a situation similar to the high-amplitude case in which the waves break promptly. We study the dependence of this process on the forcing amplitude and frequency, as well as on the diffusion coefficients. We emphasize that the small Prandtl number in the centre of solar-like stars facilitates the development of a differentially rotating core owing to the nonlinear feedback of waves. Our simulations and analysis reveal that this important mechanism may drastically change the phase of gravity waves and thus the classical picture of resonance locking in solar-type stars needs to be revised.