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Title:
Differential rotation in fully convective stars
Authors:
Balbus, Steven A.; Weiss, Nigel O.
Affiliation:
AA(Laboratoire de Radioastronomie, École Normale Supérieure, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris CEDEX 05, France; Adjunct Professor, Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville VA 22903, USA), AB(Laboratoire de Radioastronomie, École Normale Supérieure, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris CEDEX 05, France; DAMTP, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA)
Publication:
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 404, Issue 3, pp. 1263-1271. (MNRAS Homepage)
Publication Date:
05/2010
Origin:
WILEY
Astronomy Keywords:
convection, hydrodynamics, Sun: helioseismology, Sun: rotation, stars: rotation
DOI:
10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16380.x
Bibliographic Code:
2010MNRAS.404.1263B

Abstract

Under the assumption of thermal wind balance and effective entropy mixing in constant rotation surfaces, the isorotational contours of the solar convective zone may be reproduced with great fidelity. Even at this early stage of development, this helioseismology fit may be used to put a lower bound on the mid-latitude radial solar entropy gradient, which is in good accord with standard mixing length theory. In this paper, we generalize this solar calculation to fully convective stars (and potentially planets), retaining the assumptions of thermal wind balance and effective entropy mixing in isorotational surfaces. It is found that each isorotation contour is of the form R2 = A + BΦ(r), where R is the radius from the rotation axis, Φ(r) is the (assumed spherical) gravitational potential, and A and B are constants along the contour. This result is applied to simple models of fully convective stars. Both solar-like surface rotation profiles (angular velocity decreasing toward the poles) as well as `antisolar' profiles (angular velocity increasing toward the poles) are modelled; the latter bear some suggestive resemblance to numerical simulations. We also perform exploratory studies of zonal surface flows similar to those seen in Jupiter and Saturn. In addition to providing a practical framework for understanding the results of large-scale numerical simulations, our findings may also prove useful in dynamical calculations for which a simple but viable model for the background rotation profile in a convecting fluid is needed. Finally, our work bears directly on an important goal of the CoRoT programme: to elucidate the internal structure of rotating, convecting stars.
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