Asteroseismic investigations, particularly based on data on stellar oscillations from the CoRoT and Kepler space missions, are providing unique possibilities for investigating the properties of stellar interiors. This constitutes entirely new ways to study the effects of dynamic phenomena on stellar structure and evolution. Important examples are the extent of convection zones and the associated mixing and the direct and indirect effects of stellar rotation. In addition, the stellar oscillations themselves show very interesting dynamic behaviour. Here we discuss examples of the results obtained from such investigations, across the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.

Direct numerical simulations of convective stellar envelopes, are divided between two different physical regimes, that are rather difficult to reconcile — at least with the computational power of present-day computers. This paper outlines an attempt at bridging the gap between surface and interior simulations of convection.

The young star clusters we observe today are the building blocks of a new generation of stars and planets in our Galaxy and beyond. Despite their fundamental role we still lack knowledge about the initial conditions under which star clusters form and the impact of these often harsh environments on the formation and evolution of their stellar and substellar members.

We present recent results showing that mass segregation in realistic models of young star clusters occurs very quickly for subvirial spherical systems without substructure. This finding is a critical step to resolve the controversial debate on mass segregation in young star clusters and provides strong constraints on their initial conditions. The rapid concentration of massive stars is usually associated with strong gravitational interactions early on during cluster evolution and the subsequent formation of multiple systems and ejection of stars.

We report on modelling in stellar astrophysics with the ANTARES code. First, we describe properties of turbulence in solar granulation as seen in high-resolution calculations. Then, we turn to the first 2D model of pulsation-convection interaction in a cepheid. We discuss properties of the outer and the HeII ionization zone. Thirdly, we report on our work regarding models of semiconvection in the context of stellar physics.

We present the effects of introducing results of 3D MHD simulations of buoyant magnetic fields in the solar convection zone in 2D mean-field Babcock-Leighton models. In particular, we take into account the time delay introduced by the rise time of the toroidal structures from the base of the convection zone to the solar surface. We find that the delays produce large temporal modulation of the cycle amplitude even when strong and thus rapidly rising flux tubes are considered. The study of a reduced model reveals that aperiodic modulations of the solar cycle appear after a sequence of period doubling bifurcations typical of non-linear systems. We also discuss the memory of such systems and the conclusions which may be drawn concerning the actual solar cycle variability.

Recent work has shown a relationship between between the equations of Reduced Magnetohydrodynamics (RMHD), used to model magnetic fusion laboratory experiments, and incompressible magnetoconvection (IMC), employed in the simulation of astrophysical fluid dynamics (AFD), which means that the two systems are mathematically equivalent in certain geometries. Limitations on the modelling of RMHD, which were found over twenty years ago, are reviewed for an AFD audience, together with hitherto unpublished material on the role of finite-time singularities in the discrete equations used to model fluid dynamical systems. Possible implications for turbulence modelling are mentioned.

The observed uniform rotation of the Sun's radiative interior can be explained by the presence of a global-scale interior magnetic field, provided that the field remains confined below the convection zone. In high latitudes, such magnetic confinement is possible by means of persistent downwelling, driven by the convection zone's turbulent stresses.

Magnetic field are ubiquitous to low-mass stars and can potentially impact their evolution and their internal structure; yet the physical processes (called dynamo) that succeed at generating them in the stellar convective zones of cool dwarfs are still enigmatic. Although theoretical modelling and numerical simulations of stellar dynamo action showed breathtaking progress in the last decade, they are not yet in the state of accurately predicting the various magnetic topologies that different low-mass stars can generate.

Thanks to the advent of new-generation instruments, spectropolarimetric observations can now reveal the large-scale magnetic topologies of cool dwarfs, from the brown dwarf threshold (spectral type M8) up to the limit beyond which outer convective zones get vanishingly small (spectral type F5). In particular, they can reconstruct through tomographic methods the poloidal and toroidal components of the large-scale field, hence offering a fresh option for guiding dynamo theories to a more mature state.

We review here the latest observational advances, showing in particular that magnetic topologies of low-mass dwarfs can drastically vary with mass and rotation rate, and discuss their implications for our understanding of dynamo processes.

Following earlier work by Hughes & Proctor (2009) on the role of velocity shear in convectively driven dynamos, we present preliminary results on the nature of dynamo action due to modified flows derived by filtration from the full convective flow. The results suggest that filtering the flow fields has surprisingly little effect on the dynamo growth rates.

Time series of photospheric magnetic field maps from two observatories, along with data from an evolving surface-flux transport model, are decomposed into their constituent spherical harmonic modes. The evolution of these spherical harmonic spectra reflect the modulation of bipole emergence rates through the solar activity cycle, and the subsequent dispersal, shear, and advection of magnetic flux patterns across the solar photosphere. In this article, we discuss the evolution of the dipolar and quadrupolar modes throughout the past three solar cycles (Cycles 21–23), as well as their relation to the reversal of the polar dipole during each solar maximum, and by extension to aspects of the operation of the global solar dynamo.

Although the powering mechanism for quasars is now widely recognized to be the accretion of matter in a geometrically thin disk, the transport of matter to the inner region of the disk where luminosity is emitted remains an unsolved question. Miralda-Escudé & Kollmeier (2005) proposed a model whereby quasars are fuelled when stars are captured by the accretion disk as they plunge through the gas. Such plunging stars can then be destroyed and deliver their mass to the accretion disk.

Here we present the first detailed calculations for the capture of stars originating far from the accretion disk near the zone of influence of the central black hole. In particular we examine the effect of adding a perturbing mass to a fixed stellar cusp potential on bringing stars into the accretion disk where they can be captured. The work presented here will be discussed in detail in an upcoming publication Kennedy et al. (2010).

The source of the cosmological magnetic field is still unknown because the widely invoked dynamo processes are only able to regenerate and amplify some initial magnetic field seeds. In the hot and highly ionized intergalactic matter such magnetic field seeds can easily be produced by the (electro-)magnetic instabilities of Weibel type. Here we discuss suplementary mechanisms that can make these Weibel created fields to evolve at large scales presently observed in galaxies and clusters and can also enhance these magnetic field seeds after the dissipation.

I present axisymmetric numerical simulations of the solar interior, with differential rotation imposed in the convection zone and tachocline and a dipolar poloidal field confined to the radiative interior. In these simulations toroidal field reversals which are equator-ward propagating are driven in the absence of a dynamo. These reversals are driven in the tachocline and are seen at the top of the convection zone. While not solar-like in many ways, these reversals do show some solar-like properties not previously seen in full MHD simulations.

Main-sequence massive stars possess convective cores that likely harbor strong dynamo action. To assess the role of core convection in building magnetic fields within these stars, we employ the 3-D anelastic spherical harmonic (ASH) code to model turbulent dynamics within a 10 M⊙ main-sequence (MS) B-type star rotating at 4 Ω⊙. We find that strong (900 kG) magnetic fields arise within the turbulence of the core and penetrate into the stably stratified radiative zone. These fields exhibit complex, time-dependent behavior including reversals in magnetic polarity and shifts between which hemisphere dominates the total magnetic energy.

Recently, Silvers et al. (2009b), using numerical simulations, confirmed the existence of a double diffusive magnetic buoyancy instability of a layer of horizontal magnetic field produced by the interaction of a shear velocity field with a weak vertical field. Here, we demonstrate the longer term nonlinear evolution of such an instability in the simulations. We find that a quasi two-dimensional interchange instability rides (or “surfs”) on the growing shear-induced background downstream field gradients. The region of activity expands since three-dimensional perturbations remain unstable in the wake of this upward-moving activity front, and so the three-dimensional nature becomes more noticeable with time.

We review some of the recent results obtained in MHD turbulence, as encountered in many astrophysical objects. We focus attention on the lack of universality in such flows, including in the simplest case (no externally imposed magnetic field, no forcing, unit magnetic Prandtl number). Several parameters can foster such a breakdown of classical Kolmogorov scaling, such as the presence of velocity-magnetic field correlations, or of magnetic helicity and the role of the interplay between nonlinear eddies and Alfvén waves. A link with avalanche processes is also discussed. These findings have led to the conjecture of the emergence of a new paradigm for MHD turbulence, as a possibly unsettled competition between several dynamical phenomena.

The particle dynamics and in the stellar magnetosphere during gravitational collapse is investigated. The formations of relativistic jets and the generation of the radiation bursts in the stellar magnetosphere by gravitational collapse are considered. As follows from results, the stars on the stage of gravitational collapse must be powerful sources of the relativistic jets and the non-thermal radiation. These jets will formed in the polar caps of collapsing stars magnetospheres, when the stellar magnetic field increases during collapse and the charged particles will be accelerate. These jets will generate the non-thermal radiation. The radiation flux grows with decreasing stellar radius and can be observed in the form of radiation burst in wide band wave- from radio to gamma-ray. These bursts radiation can be observed as gamma- and X- rays bursts.

The formation scenario of ring galaxies is addressed in this paper. We focus on the P-type ring galaxies presented in Madore, Nelson & Petrillo (2009), particularly on the axis-symmetric ones. Our simulations show that a ring can form through the collision of disc and dwarf galaxies, and the locations, widths, and density contrasts of the ring are well determined. We find that a ring galaxy such as AM 2302-322 can be produced by this collision scenario.

3D high resolution simulations for the convective zone of a 4Myr old 0.7 M⊙ pre-main sequence star in gravitational contraction are carried out with different radial density contrast using the pseudo spectral ASH code (Brun et al. 2004). We extract giant cells signal from the complex surface convective patterns by using a wavelet analysis. We then characterize them by estimating their lifetime and rotation rate according to the density contrast.