Internal gravity waves are excited at the interface of convection and radiation zones of a solar-type star, by the tidal forcing of a short-period planet. The fate of these waves as they approach the centre of the star depends on their amplitude. We discuss the results of numerical simulations of these waves approaching the centre of a star, and the resulting evolution of the spin of the central regions of the star and the orbit of the planet. If the waves break, we find efficient tidal dissipation, which is not present if the waves perfectly reflect from the centre. This highlights an important amplitude dependence of the (stellar) tidal quality factor Q′, which has implications for the survival of planets on short-period orbits around solar-type stars, with radiative cores.

We review the observational knowledge that has built up over the past 25 years on the interstellar magnetic field within ~ 150 pc of the Galactic center. We also provide a critical discussion of the main observational findings and comment on their possible theoretical interpretations. To conclude, we propose a coherent view of the interstellar magnetic field near the Galactic center, which accounts at best for the vast body of observations.

We present the results of 3D simulations, performed with the ASH code, of the nonlinear, magnetic coupling between the convective and radiative zones in the Sun, through the tachocline. Contrary to the predictions of Gough & McIntyre (1998), a fossil magnetic field, deeply buried initially in the solar interior, will penetrate into the convection zone. According to Ferraro's law of iso-rotation, the differential rotation of the convective zone will thus expand into the radiation zone, along the field lines of the poloidal field.

Three-dimensional (3D) hydrodynamic simulations of shell oxygen burning by Meakin & Arnett (2007b) exhibit bursty, recurrent fluctuations in turbulent kinetic energy. These are shown to be due to a global instability in the convective region, which has been suppressed in simulations of stellar evolution which use mixing-length theory (MLT). Quantitatively similar behavior occurs in the model of a convective roll (cell) of Lorenz (1963), which is known to have a strange attractor that gives rise to random fluctuations in time. An extension of the Lorenz model, which includes Kolmogorov damping and nuclear burning, is shown to exhibit bursty, recurrent fluctuations like those seen in the 3D simulations. A simple model of a convective layer (composed of multiple Lorenz cells) gives luminosity fluctuations which are suggestive of irregular variables (red giants and supergiants, see Schwarzschild (1975). Details and additional discussion may be found in Arnett & Meakin (2011).

Apparent inconsistencies between Arnett, Meakin, & Young (2009) and Nordlund, Stein, & Asplund (2009) on the nature of convective driving have been resolved, and are discussed.

As compressible convection has inherent up/down asymmetry, overshooting above and below a convection zone behave differently. In downward overshooting, the narrow down-flow columns dynamically play an important role. It is customary, and reasonable, to use the downward flux of kinetic energy as a proxy for overshooting. In the upward situation, the flux of kinetic energy can take on different signs near the upper boundary of the convection zone, and its magnitude is generally small. It cannot make a good proxy for overshooting. This paper discusses the results of a set of numerical experiments that investigate the problem of overshooting above a convection zone. Particle tracing and color advection are used to follow the mixing process. The overshoot region above a convection zone is found to contain multiple counter cell layers.

The large-scale dynamics of the solar convection zone have been inferred using both global and local helioseismology applied to data from the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) and the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) on board SOHO. The global analysis has revealed temporal variations of the “torsional oscillation” zonal flow as a function of depth, which may be related to the properties of the solar cycle. The horizontal flow field as a function of heliographic position and depth can be derived from ring diagrams, and shows near-surface meridional flows that change over the activity cycle. Time-distance techniques can be used to infer the deep meridional flow, which is important for flux-transport dynamo models. Temporal variations of the vorticity can be used to investigate the production of flare activity. This paper summarizes the state of our knowledge in these areas.

We report on the extension of the ASH code to include an atmospheric stable layer (i.e not convective). This layer is meant to model the sun's chromosphere within the anelastic approximation limits while coping with the wide range of densities, time and spatial scales between r = 0.7 R⊙ and r = 1.03 R⊙. Convective overshoot into the stable atmospheric layer is observed in a region ~ 0.01 R⊙ thick, exciting waves which propagate upwards into the atmosphere.

We revisit a phenomenological description of turbulent thermal convection along the lines proposed originally by Gough (1965) in which eddies grow solely by extracting energy from the unstably stratified mean state and are subsequently destroyed by internal shear instability. This work is part of an ongoing investigation for finding a procedure to calculate the turbulent fluxes of heat and momentum in the presence of a shearing background flow in stars.

Records of the solar magnetic field extend back for millennia, and its surface properties have been observed for centuries, while helioseismology has recently revealed the Sun's internal rotation and the presence of a tachocline. Dynamo theory has developed to explain these observations, first with idealized models based on mean-field electrodynamics and, more recently, by direct numerical simulation, notably with the ASH code at Boulder. These results, which suggest that cyclic activity relies on the presence of the tachocline, and that its modulation is chaotic (rather than stochastic), will be critically reviewed. Similar theoretical approaches have been followed in order to explain the magnetic properties of other main-sequence stars, whose fields can be mapped by Zeeman-Doppler imaging. Of particular interest is the behaviour of fully convective, low-mass stars, which lack any tachocline but are nevertheless extremely active.

We have made 3-D models of the collision of binary star winds and followed their interaction over multiple orbits. This allows us to explore how the wind-wind interaction shapes the circumstellar environment. Specifically, we can model the highly radiative shock that occurs where the winds collide. We find that the shell that is created at the collision front between the two winds can be highly unstable, depending on the characteristics of the stellar winds.

A dynamo is a process by which fluid motions sustain magnetic fields against dissipative effects. Dynamos occur naturally in many astrophysical systems. Theoretically, we have a much more robust understanding of the generation and maintenance of magnetic fields at the scale of the fluid motions or smaller, than that of magnetic fields at scales much larger than the local velocity. Here, via numerical simulations, we examine one example of an “essentially nonlinear” dynamo mechanism that successfully maintains magnetic field at the largest available scale (the system scale) without cascade to the resistive scale. In particular, we examine whether this new type of dynamo at the system scale is still effective in the presence of other smaller-scale dynamics (turbulence).

In the quiet Sun, convective motions form a characteristic granular pattern, with broad upflows enclosed by a network of narrow downflows. Magnetic fields tend to accumulate in the intergranular lanes, forming localised flux concentrations. One of the most plausible explanations for the appearance of these quiet Sun magnetic features is that they are generated and maintained by dynamo action resulting from the local convective motions at the surface of the Sun. Motivated by this idea, we describe high resolution numerical simulations of nonlinear dynamo action in a (fully) compressible, non-rotating layer of electrically-conducting fluid. The dynamo properties depend crucially upon various aspects of the fluid. For example, the magnetic Reynolds number (Rm) determines the initial growth rate of the magnetic energy, as well as the final saturation level of the dynamo in the nonlinear regime. We focus particularly upon the ways in which the Rm-dependence of the dynamo is influenced by the level of stratification within the domain. Our results can be related, in a qualitative sense, to solar observations.