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Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Sunspot modeling: From simplified models to radiative MHD simulations
    (Heidelberg : Springer, 2011) Rempel, Matthias; Schlichenmaier, Rolf
    We review our current understanding of sunspots from the scales of their fine structure to their large scale (global) structure including the processes of their formation and decay. Recently, sunspot models have undergone a dramatic change. In the past, several aspects of sunspot structure have been addressed by static MHD models with parametrized energy transport. Models of sunspot fine structure have been relying heavily on strong assumptions about flow and field geometry (e.g., flux-tubes, "gaps", convective rolls), which were motivated in part by the observed filamentary structure of penumbrae or the necessity of explaining the substantial energy transport required to maintain the penumbral brightness. However, none of these models could self-consistently explain all aspects of penumbral structure (energy transport, filamentation, Evershed flow). In recent years, 3D radiative MHD simulations have been advanced dramatically to the point at which models of complete sunspots with sufficient resolution to capture sunspot fine structure are feasible. Here, overturning convection is the central element responsible for energy transport, filamentation leading to fine structure, and the driving of strong outflows. On the larger scale these models are also in the progress of addressing the subsurface structure of sunspots as well as sunspot formation. With this shift in modeling capabilities and the recent advances in high resolution observations, the future research will be guided by comparing observation and theory.
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    Magnetic structure of sunspots
    (Heidelberg : Springer, 2011) Borrero, Juan M.; Ichimoto, Kiyoshi
    In this review we give an overview about the current state-of-knowledge of the magnetic field in sunspots from an observational point of view. We start by offering a brief description of tools that are most commonly employed to infer the magnetic field in the solar atmosphere with emphasis in the photosphere of sunspots. We then address separately the global and local magnetic structure of sunspots, focusing on the implications of the current observations for the different sunspots models, energy transport mechanisms, extrapolations of the magnetic field towards the corona, and other issues.
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    Numerical simulations of torsional Alfvén waves in axisymmetric solar magnetic flux tubes
    (Heidelberg : Springer, 2017) Wójcik, D.; Murawski, K.; Musielak, Z.E.; Konkol, P.; Mignone, A.
    We numerically investigate Alfvén waves propagating along an axisymmetric and non-isothermal solar flux tube embedded in the solar atmosphere. The tube magnetic field is current-free and diverges with height, and the waves are excited by a periodic driver along the tube magnetic field lines. The main results are that the two wave variables, the velocity and magnetic field perturbations in the azimuthal direction, behave differently as a result of gradients of the physical parameters along the tube. To explain these differences in the wave behavior, the time evolution of the wave variables and the resulting cutoff period for each wave variable are calculated and used to determine regions in the solar chromosphere where strong wave reflection may occur.
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    Evolution of the fine structure of magnetic fields in the quiet Sun: Observations from Sunrise/IMaX and extrapolations
    (Heidelberg : Springer, 2013) Wiegelmann, T.; Solanki, S.K.; Borrero, J.M.; Peter, H.; Barthol, P.; Gandorfer, A.; Martínez Pillet, V.; Schmidt, W.; Knölker, M.
    Observations with the balloon-borne Sunrise/Imaging Magnetograph eXperiment (IMaX) provide high spatial resolution (roughly 100 km at disk center) measurements of the magnetic field in the photosphere of the quiet Sun. To investigate the magnetic structure of the chromosphere and corona, we extrapolate these photospheric measurements into the upper solar atmosphere and analyze a 22-minute long time series with a cadence of 33 seconds. Using the extrapolated magnetic-field lines as tracer, we investigate temporal evolution of the magnetic connectivity in the quiet Sun’s atmosphere. The majority of magnetic loops are asymmetric in the sense that the photospheric field strength at the loop foot points is very different. We find that the magnetic connectivity of the loops changes rapidly with a typical connection recycling time of about 3±1 minutes in the upper solar atmosphere and 12±4 minutes in the photosphere. This is considerably shorter than previously found. Nonetheless, our estimate of the energy released by the associated magnetic-reconnection processes is not likely to be the sole source for heating the chromosphere and corona in the quiet Sun.
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    Electronic properties of wurtzite GaAs: A correlated structural, optical, and theoretical analysis of the same polytypic GaAs nanowire
    (Heidelberg : Springer, 2018) Senichev, Alexander; Corfdir, Pierre; Brandt, Oliver; Ramsteiner, Manfred; Breuer, Steffen; Schilling, Jörg; Geelhaar, Lutz; Werner, Peter
    III-V compound semiconductor nanowires are generally characterized by the coexistence of zincblende and wurtzite structures. So far, this polytypism has impeded the determination of the electronic properties of the metastable wurtzite phase of GaAs, which thus remain highly controversial. In an effort to obtain new insights into this topic, we cross-correlate nanoscale spectral imaging by near-field scanning optical microscopy with a transmission electron microscopy analysis of the very same polytypic GaAs nanowire dispersed onto a Si wafer. Thus, spatially resolved photoluminescence spectra could be unambiguously assigned to nanowire segments whose structure is known with lattice-resolved accuracy. An emission energy of 1.528 eV was observed from extended zincblende segments, revealing that the dispersed nanowire was under uniaxial strain presumably due to interaction with its supporting substrate. These crucial information and the emission energy obtained for extended pure wurtzite segments were used to perform envelope function calculations of zincblende quantum disks in a wurtzite matrix as well as the inverse structure. In these calculations, we varied the fundamental bandgap, the electron mass, and the band offset between zincblende and wurtzite GaAs. From this multi-parameter comparison with the experimental data, we deduced that the bandgap between the Γ8 conduction and A valence band ranges from 1.532 to 1.539 eV in strain-free wurtzite GaAs, and estimated values of 1.507 to 1.514 eV for the Γ7–A bandgap. Address correspondence