Dynamics of the fast solar tachocline

I. Dipolar field

¹ Eötvös University, Department of Astronomy, Budapest, Pf. 32, 1518 Hungary
² Instute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-4030, USA

Corresponding author: E. Forgács-Dajka, E.Forgacs-Dajka@astro.elte.hu

Received: 15 January 2002
Accepted: 16 April 2002

Abstract

One possible scenario for the origin of the solar tachocline, known as the “fast tachocline”, assumes that the turbulent diffusivity exceeds  cm² s^-1. In this case the dynamics will be governed by the dynamo-generated oscillatory magnetic field on relatively short timescales. Here, for the first time, we present detailed numerical models for the fast solar tachocline with all components of the magnetic field calculated explicitly, assuming axial symmetry and a constant turbulent diffusivity η and viscosity ν. We find that a sufficiently strong oscillatory poloidal field with dipolar latitude dependence at the tachocline–convective zone boundary is able to confine the tachocline. Exploring the three-dimensional parameter space defined by the viscosity in the range –11, the magnetic Prandtl number in the range , and the meridional flow amplitude (-3 to +3 cm s^-1), we also find that the confining field strength , necessary to reproduce the observed thickness of the tachocline, increases with viscosity ν, with magnetic Prandtl number , and with equatorward meridional flow speed. Nevertheless, the resulting values remain quite reasonable, in the range  G, for all parameter combinations considered here. The thickness of the tachocline shows a marked dependence on both time and latitude. The latitude dependence is similar to that inferred by helioseismology, while the time dependence is within the observational errors.