Small-scale Magnetic Helicity Research Articles

Turbulent magnetic helicity fluxes in solar convective zone

ABSTRACT Combined action of helical motions of plasma (the kinetic α effect) and non-uniform (differential) rotation is a key dynamo mechanism of solar and galactic large-scale magnetic fields. Dynamics of magnetic helicity of small-scale fields is a crucial mechanism in a non-linear dynamo saturation where turbulent magnetic helicity fluxes allow to avoid catastrophic quenching of the α effect. The convective zone of the Sun and solar-like stars, as well as galactic discs, are the source for production of turbulent magnetic helicity fluxes. In the framework of the mean-field approach and the spectral τ approximation, we derive turbulent magnetic helicity fluxes using the Coulomb gauge in a density-stratified turbulence. The turbulent magnetic helicity fluxes include non-gradient and gradient contributions. The non-gradient magnetic helicity flux is proportional to a non-linear effective velocity (which vanishes in the absence of the density stratification) multiplied by small-scale magnetic helicity, while the gradient contributions describe turbulent magnetic diffusion of the small-scale magnetic helicity. In addition, the turbulent magnetic helicity fluxes contain source terms proportional to the kinetic α effect or its gradients, and also contributions caused by the large-scale shear (solar differential rotation). We have demonstrated that the turbulent magnetic helicity fluxes due to the kinetic α effect and its radial derivative in combination with the non-linear magnetic diffusion of the small-scale magnetic helicity are dominant in the solar convective zone.

Spectral Magnetic Helicity of Solar Active Regions between 2006 and 2017

Abstract We compute magnetic helicity and energy spectra from about 2485 patches of about 100 Mm side length on the solar surface using data from Hinode during 2006–2017. An extensive database is assembled where we list the magnetic energy and helicity, large- and small-scale magnetic helicity, mean current helicity density, fractional magnetic helicity, and correlation length along with the Hinode map identification number (MapID), as well as the Carrington latitude and longitude for each MapID. While there are departures from the hemispheric sign rule for magnetic and current helicities, the weak trend reported here is in agreement with the previous results. This is argued to be a physical effect associated with the dominance of individual active regions that contribute more strongly in the better-resolved Hinode maps. In comparison with earlier work, the typical correlation length is found to be 6– , while the length scale relating the magnetic and current helicities to each other is around .

Large-Scale Properties of the Tilt of Sunspot Groups and Joy’s Law Near the Solar Equator

We present a physical mechanism of formation of tilt angles of sunspots due to the process of formation of active regions below the solar photosphere. The contribution of Coriolis force factors on large-scale flows of super-granular convection in turbulent media has been investigated in details. On the basis of earlier works by Kleeorin et al. (2016) and Safiullin et al. (2018) we give physical estimates of orders of magnitude of the effect and estimate the tilt angles near the solar equator, in the "Royal" zone of solar activity. The above model is based on the balance of the small-scale and large scale magnetic helicities and describes in details the sunspot formation process over the last five solar cycles (since 1964). We adopt this model for a wider class of manifestations of solar activity. We present latitudinal dependence of the mean tilt on these five solar cycles and time-latitudinal diagrams over a limited range of latitudes and phases of the solar cycle.

Magnetic Helicity Reversal in the Corona at Small Plasma Beta

Abstract Solar and stellar dynamos shed small-scale and large-scale magnetic helicity of opposite signs. However, solar wind observations and simulations have shown that some distance above the dynamo both the small-scale and large-scale magnetic helicities have reversed signs. With realistic simulations of the solar corona above an active region now being available, we have access to the magnetic field and current density along coronal loops. We show that a sign reversal in the horizontal averages of the magnetic helicity occurs when the local maximum of the plasma beta drops below unity and the field becomes nearly fully force free. Hence, this reversal is expected to occur well within the solar corona and would not directly be accessible to in situ measurements with the Parker Solar Probe or SolarOrbiter. We also show that the reversal is associated with subtle changes in the relative dominance of structures with positive and negative magnetic helicity.

Small-Scale Magnetic Helicity and Nonlinear Stabilization of the Dynamo

According to present-day ideas, nonlinear saturation of the astrophysical dynamo and, in particular, the solar dynamo, are based on the consideration of the magnetic helicity balance, to which the helicities of the large-scale magnetic field and small-scale field related to it contributed. We show that, in a mirrorasymmetric medium, the small-scale magnetic field generated by the small-scale dynamo also has a nonzero magnetic helicity, which also should be taken into account in the magnetic helicity balance.

Some consequences of shear on galactic dynamos with helicity fluxes

Galactic dynamo models sustained by supernova (SN) driven turbulence and differential rotation have revealed that the sustenance of large scale fields requires a flux of small scale magnetic helicity to be viable. Here we generalize a minimalist analytic version of such galactic dynamos to explore some heretofore unincluded contributions from shear on the total turbulent energy and turbulent correlation time, with the helicity fluxes maintained by either winds, diffusion, or magnetic buoyancy. We construct an analytic framework for modeling the turbulent energy and correlation time as functions of SN rate and shear. We compare our prescription with previous approaches that only include rotation. The solutions depend separately on the rotation period and the eddy turnover time and not just on their ratio (the Rossby number). We consider models in which these two time scales are allowed to be independent and also a case in which they are mutually dependent on radius when a radial dependent SN rate model is invoked. For the case of a fixed rotation period (or fixed radius) we show that the influence of shear is dramatic for low Rossby numbers, reducing the correlation time of the turbulence, which in turn, strongly reduces the saturation value of the dynamo compared to the case when the shear is ignored. We also show that even in the absence of winds or diffusive fluxes, magnetic buoyancy may be able to sustain sufficient helicity fluxes to avoid quenching.

The dynamics of Wolf numbers based on nonlinear dynamos with magnetic helicity: comparisons with observations

We investigate the dynamics of solar activity using a nonlinear one-dimensional dynamo model and a phenomenological equation for the evolution of Wolf numbers. This system of equations is solved numerically. We take into account the algebraic and dynamic nonlinearities of the alpha effect. The dynamic nonlinearity is related to the evolution of a small-scale magnetic helicity, and it leads to a complicated behavior of solar activity. The evolution equation for the Wolf number is based on a mechanism of formation of magnetic spots as a result of the negative effective magnetic pressure instability (NEMPI). This phenomenon was predicted 25 years ago and has been investigated intensively in recent years through direct numerical simulations and mean-field simulations. The evolution equation for the Wolf number includes the production and decay of sunspots. Comparison between the results of numerical simulations and observational data of Wolf numbers shows a 70 % correlation over all intervals of observation (about 270 years). We determine the dependence of the maximum value of the Wolf number versus the period of the cycle and the asymmetry of the solar cycles versus the amplitude of the cycle. These dependencies are in good agreement with observations.

A GLOBAL GALACTIC DYNAMO WITH A CORONA CONSTRAINED BY RELATIVE HELICITY

ABSTRACT We present a model for a global axisymmetric turbulent dynamo operating in a galaxy with a corona that treats the parameters of turbulence driven by supernovae and by magneto-rotational instability under a common formalism. The nonlinear quenching of the dynamo is alleviated by the inclusion of small-scale advective and diffusive magnetic helicity fluxes, which allow the gauge-invariant magnetic helicity to be transferred outside the disk and consequently to build up a corona during the course of dynamo action. The time-dependent dynamo equations are expressed in a separable form and solved through an eigenvector expansion constructed using the steady-state solutions of the dynamo equation. The parametric evolution of the dynamo solution allows us to estimate the final structure of the global magnetic field and the saturated value of the turbulence parameter α m , even before solving the dynamical equations for evolution of magnetic fields in the disk and the corona, along with α-quenching. We then solve these equations simultaneously to study the saturation of the large-scale magnetic field, its dependence on the small-scale magnetic helicity fluxes, and the corresponding evolution of the force-free field in the corona. The quadrupolar large-scale magnetic field in the disk is found to reach equipartition strength within a timescale of 1 Gyr. The large-scale magnetic field in the corona obtained is much weaker than the field inside the disk and has only a weak impact on the dynamo operation.

Magnetic spiral arms and galactic outflows

Abstract Galactic magnetic arms have been observed between the gaseous arms of some spiral galaxies; their origin remains unclear. We suggest that magnetic spiral arms can be naturally generated in the interarm regions because the galactic fountain flow or wind is likely to be weaker there than in the arms. Galactic outflows lead to two countervailing effects: removal of small-scale magnetic helicity, which helps to avert catastrophic quenching of the dynamo, and advection of the large-scale magnetic field, which suppresses dynamo action. For realistic galactic parameters, the net consequence of outflows being stronger in the gaseous arms is higher saturation large-scale field strengths in the interarm regions as compared to in the arms. By incorporating rather realistic models of spiral structure and evolution into our dynamo models, an interlaced pattern of magnetic and gaseous arms can be produced.

Ribbons characterize magnetohydrodynamic magnetic fields better than lines: a lesson from dynamo theory

Blackman and Brandenburg argued that magnetic helicity conservation in dynamo theory can in principle be captured by diagrams of mean field dynamos when the magnetic fields are represented by ribbons or tubes, but not by lines. Here, we present such a schematic ribbon diagram for the α2 dynamo that tracks magnetic helicity and provides distinct scales of large-scale magnetic helicity, small-scale magnetic helicity, and kinetic helicity involved in the process. This also motivates our construction of a new ‘2.5 scale’ minimalist generalization of the helicity-evolving equations for the α2 dynamo that separately allows for these three distinct length-scales while keeping only two dynamical equations. We solve these equations and, as in previous studies, find that the large-scale field first grows at a rate independent of the magnetic Reynolds number RM before quenching to an RM-dependent regime. But we also show that the larger the ratio of the wavenumber where the small-scale current helicity resides to that of the forcing scale, the earlier the non-linear dynamo quenching occurs, and the weaker the large-scale field is at the turnoff from linear growth. The harmony between the theory and the schematic diagram exemplifies a general lesson that magnetic fields in magnetohydrodynamic are better visualized as two-dimensional ribbons (or pairs of lines) rather than single lines.

PROPERTIES OF MAGNETIC HELICITY FLUX IN TURBULENT DYNAMOS

We study the flux of small-scale magnetic helicity in simulations of driven statistically homogeneous magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in a periodic box with an imposed large-scale shear. The simulations show that in the regime of strong dynamo action the eddy-scale magnetic helicity flux has only two significant terms: advective motion driven by the large-scale velocity field and the Vishniac–Cho (VC) flux which moves helicity across the magnetic field lines. The contribution of all the other terms is negligible. The VC flux is highly correlated with the large-scale electromotive force and is responsible for large-scale dynamo action, while the advective term is not. The VC flux is driven by the anisotropy of the turbulence. We derive analytical expressions for it in terms of the small-scale velocity or magnetic field. These expressions are used to predict the existence and strength of dynamo action for different turbulent anisotropies and tested against the results of the simulations.

The origin of the helicity hemispheric sign rule reversals in the mean-field solar-type dynamo

Observations of proxies of the magnetic helicity in the Sun over the past two solar cycles revealed reversals of the helicity hemispheric sign rule (negative in the North and positive in the South hemispheres). We apply the mean-field solar dynamo model to study the reversals of the magnetic helicity sign for the dynamo operating in the bulk of the solar convection zone. The evolution of the magnetic helicity is governed by the conservation law. We found that the reversal of the sign of the small-scale magnetic helicity follows the dynamo wave propagating inside the convection zone. Therefore, the spatial patterns of the magnetic helicity reversals reflect the processes which contribute to generation and evolution of the large-scale magnetic fields. At the surface the patterns of the helicity sign reversals are determined by the magnetic helicity boundary conditions at the top of the convection zone. We demonstrate the impact of fluctuations in the dynamo parameters and variability in dynamo cycle amplitude on the reversals of the magnetic helicity sign rule. The obtained results suggest that the magnetic helicity of the large-scale axisymmetric field can be treated as an additional observational tracer for the solar dynamo.

HELICITY CONSERVATION IN NONLINEAR MEAN-FIELD SOLAR DYNAMO

It is believed that magnetic helicity conservation is an important constraint on large-scale astrophysical dynamos. In this paper, we study a mean-field solar dynamo model that employs two different formulations of the magnetic helicity conservation. In the first approach, the evolution of the averaged small-scale magnetic helicity is largely determined by the local induction effects due to the large-scale magnetic field, turbulent motions, and the turbulent diffusive loss of helicity. In this case, the dynamo model shows that the typical strength of the large-scale magnetic field generated by the dynamo is much smaller than the equipartition value for the magnetic Reynolds number 106. This is the so-called catastrophic quenching (CQ) phenomenon. In the literature, this is considered to be typical for various kinds of solar dynamo models, including the distributed-type and the Babcock–Leighton-type dynamos. The problem can be resolved by the second formulation, which is derived from the integral conservation of the total magnetic helicity. In this case, the dynamo model shows that magnetic helicity propagates with the dynamo wave from the bottom of the convection zone to the surface. This prevents CQ because of the local balance between the large-scale and small-scale magnetic helicities. Thus, the solar dynamo can operate in a wide range of magnetic Reynolds numbers up to 106.

On the magnetic quenching of mean-field effects in supersonic interstellar turbulence

The emergence of large-scale magnetic fields observed in the diffuse interstellar medium is explained by a turbulent dynamo. The underlying transport coefficients have previously been extracted from numerical simulations. So far, this was restricted to the kinematic regime, but we aim to extend our analysis into the realm of dynamically important fields. This marks an important step on which derived mean-field models rely to explain observed equipartition-strength fields. As in previous work, we diagnose turbulent transport coefficients by means of the test-field method. We derive quenching functions for the dynamo α effect, diamagnetic pumping and turbulent diffusivity, which are compared with theoretical expectations. At late times, we observe the suppression of the vertical wind. Because this potentially affects the removal of small-scale magnetic helicity, new concerns arise about circumventing constraints imposed by the conservation of magnetic helicity at high magnetic Reynolds numbers. While present results cannot safely rule out this possibility, the issue only becomes important at late stages and is absent when the dynamo is quenched by the wind itself.

On the resilience of helical magnetic fields to turbulent diffusion and the astrophysical implications

The extent to which large scale magnetic fields are susceptible to turbulent diffusion is important for interpreting the need for in situ large scale dynamos in astrophysics and for observationally inferring field strengths compared to kinetic energy. By solving coupled equations for magnetic energy and magnetic helicity in a system initiated with isotropic turbulence and an arbitrarily helical large scale field, we quantify the decay rate of the latter for a bounded or periodic system. The energy associated with the non-helical magnetic field rapidly decays by turbulent diffusion, but the decay rate of the helical component depends on whether the ratio of its magnetic energy to the turbulent kinetic energy exceeds a critical value given by M_{1,c} =(k_1/k_2)^2, where k_1 and k_2 are the wave numbers of the large and forcing scales. Turbulently diffusing helical fields to small scales while conserving magnetic helicity requires a rapid increase in total magnetic energy. As such, only when the helical fields are sub-critical can they so diffuse. When super-critical, the large scale helical field decays slowly, at a rate determined by microphysical dissipation even when macroscopic turbulence is present. Amplification of small scale magnetic helicity abates the turbulent diffusion. Two implications are that: (1) Standard arguments supporting the need for in situ large scale dynamos based on the otherwise rapid turbulent diffusion of large scale fields require re-thinking since only the non-helical field is so diffused in a closed system. Boundary terms could however provide potential pathways for rapid change of the large scale helical field. (2) Since M_{1,c} <<1 for k_1 << k_2, the presence of long-lived ordered large scale helical fields, as in extragalactic jets, does not guarantee that the magnetic field dominates the kinetic energy.

Simulations of a magnetic fluctuation driven large-scale dynamo and comparison with a two-scale model

Models of large scale (magnetohydrodynamic) dynamos (LSD) which couple large scale field growth to total magnetic helicity evolution best predict the saturation of LSDs seen in simulations. For the simplest so called "{\alpha}2" LSDs in periodic boxes, the electromotive force driving LSD growth depends on the difference between the time-integrated kinetic and current helicity associated with fluctuations. When the system is helically kinetically forced (KF), the growth of the large scale helical field is accompanied by growth of small scale magnetic (and current) helicity which ultimately quench the LSD. Here, using both simulations and theory, we study the complementary magnetically forced(MF) case in which the system is forced with an electric field that supplies magnetic helicity. For this MF case, the kinetic helicity becomes the back-reactor that saturates the LSD. Simulations of both MF and KF cases can be approximately modeled with the same equations of magnetic helicity evolution, but with complementary initial conditions. A key difference between KF and MF cases is that the helical large scale field in the MF case grows with the same sign of injected magnetic helicity, whereas the large and small scale magnetic helicities grow with opposite sign for the KF case. The MF case can arise even when the thermal pressure is approximately smaller than the magnetic pressure, and requires only that helical small scale magnetic fluctuations dominate helical velocity fluctuations in LSD driving. We suggest that LSDs in accretion discs and Babcock models of the solar dynamo are actually MF LSDs.

MAGNETIC HELICITY FLUX IN THE PRESENCE OF SHEAR

Magnetic helicity has risen to be a major player in dynamo theory, with the helicity of the small-scale field being linked to the dynamo saturation process for the large-scale field. It is a nearly conserved quantity, which allows its evolution equation to be written in terms of production and flux terms. The flux term can be decomposed in a variety of fashions. One particular contribution that has been expected to play a significant role in dynamos in the presence of mean shear was isolated by Vishniac & Cho (2001, ApJ 550, 752). Magnetic helicity fluxes are explicitly gauge dependent however, and the correlations that have come to be called the Vishniac-Cho flux were determined in the Coulomb gauge, which turns out to be fraught with complications in shearing systems. While the fluxes of small-scale helicity are explicitly gauge dependent, their divergences can be gauge independent. We use this property to investigate magnetic helicity fluxes of small-scale field through direct numerical simulations in a shearing-box system and find that in a numerically usable gauge the divergence of the small-scale helicity flux vanishes, while the divergence of the Vishniac-Cho flux remains finite. We attribute this seeming contradiction to the existence of horizontal fluxes of small-scale magnetic helicity with finite divergences even in our shearing-periodic domain.

Magnetic helicity fluxes in an α 2 dynamo embedded in a halo

We present the results of simulations of forced turbulence in a slab where the mean kinetic helicity has a maximum near the mid-plane, generating gradients of magnetic helicity of both large and small-scale fields. We also study systems that have poorly conducting buffer zones away from the midplane in order to assess the effects of boundaries. The dynamical α quenching phenomenology requires that the magnetic helicity in the small-scale fields approaches a nearly static, gauge independent state. To stress-test this steady state condition we choose a system with a uniform sign of kinetic helicity, so that the total magnetic helicity can reach a steady state value only through fluxes through the boundary, which are themselves suppressed by the velocity boundary conditions. Even with such a set up, the small-scale magnetic helicity is found to reach a steady state. In agreement with the earlier work, the magnetic helicity fluxes of small-scale fields are found to be turbulently diffusive. By comparing results with and without halos, we show that artificial constraints on magnetic helicity at the boundary do not have a significant impact on the evolution of the magnetic helicity, except that “softer” (halo) boundary conditions give a lower energy of the saturated mean magnetic field.

Can catastrophic quenching be alleviated by separating shear and α effect?

The small-scale magnetic helicity produced as a by-product of the large-scale dynamo is believed to play a major role in dynamo saturation. In a mean-field model the generation of small-scale magnetic helicity can be modelled by using the dynamical quenching formalism. Catastrophic quenching refers to a decrease of the saturation field strength with increasing Reynolds number. It has been suggested that catastrophic quenching only affects the region of non-zero helical turbulence (i.e. where the kinematic α operates) and that it is possible to alleviate catastrophic quenching by separating the region of strong shear from the α layer. We perform a systematic study of a simple axisymmetric two-layer αΩ dynamo in a spherical shell for Reynolds numbers in the range 1 ≤ R m ≤ 105. In the framework of dynamical quenching we show that this may not be the case, suggesting that magnetic helicity fluxes would be necessary.

Small-scale magnetic helicity losses from a mean-field dynamo

Using mean-field models with a dynamical quenching formalism, we show that in finite domains magnetic helicity fluxes associated with small-scale magnetic fields are able to alleviate catastrophic quenching. We consider fluxes that result from advection by a mean flow, the turbulent mixing down the gradient of mean small-scale magnetic helicity density or the explicit removal which may be associated with the effects of coronal mass ejections in the Sun. In the absence of shear, all the small-scale magnetic helicity fluxes are found to be equally strong for both large- and small-scale fields. In the presence of shear, there is also an additional magnetic helicity flux associated with the mean field, but this flux does not alleviate catastrophic quenching. Outside the dynamo-active region, there are neither sources nor sinks of magnetic helicity, so in a steady state this flux must be constant. It is shown that unphysical behaviour emerges if the small-scale magnetic helicity flux is forced to vanish within the computational domain.