Magneto-convection in sunspot penumbrae

Abstract

Finite amplitude convection in the presence of a horizontal magnetic field has been investigated in a region where thermal diffusivity (κ) is less than magnetic diffusivity (η) and whenκ/η > 1,Q ≤Qc, where $$Q_c = \frac{{(1 + \sigma _1 )(\pi ^2 + q_c^2 )^2 }}{{q_c^2 (\sigma _2 - \sigma _1 )}}$$ ,Q is the Chandrasekhar number,σ1 the Prandtl number,σ2 the magnetic Prandtl number, andqc the critical wave number at the onset of stationary convection. We have derived a nonlinear time-dependent Landau—Ginzburg equation near the onset of supercritical stationary convection and a nonlinear, second-order equation at the Takens—Bogdanov bifurcation. We have obtained steady-state solutions of these equations, which describe the nonlinear behaviour near the onset of stationary convection.