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    The solar photospheric silicon abundance according to CO5BOLD: Investigating line broadening, magnetic fields, and model effects
    (Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2022) Deshmukh, S.A.; Ludwig, H.-G.; Kučinskas, A.; Steffen, M.; Barklem, P.S.; Caffau, E.; Dobrovolskas, V.; Bonifacio, P.
    Context. In this work, we present a photospheric solar silicon abundance derived using CO5BOLD model atmospheres and the LINFOR3D spectral synthesis code. Previous works have differed in their choice of a spectral line sample and model atmosphere as well as their treatment of observational material, and the solar silicon abundance has undergone a downward revision in recent years. We additionally show the effects of the chosen line sample, broadening due to velocity fields, collisional broadening, model spatial resolution, and magnetic fields. Aims. Our main aim is to derive the photospheric solar silicon abundance using updated oscillator strengths and to mitigate model shortcomings such as over-broadening of synthetic spectra. We also aim to investigate the effects of different line samples, fitting configurations, and magnetic fields on the fitted abundance and broadening values. Methods. CO5BOLD model atmospheres for the Sun were used in conjunction with the LINFOR3D spectral synthesis code to generate model spectra, which were then fit to observations in the Hamburg solar atlas. We took pixel-to-pixel signal correlations into account by means of a correlated noise model. The choice of line sample is crucial to determining abundances, and we present a sample of 11 carefully selected lines (from an initial choice of 39 lines) in both the optical and infrared, which has been made possible with newly determined oscillator strengths for the majority of these lines. Our final sample includes seven optical Si i lines, three infrared Si i lines, and one optical Si ii line. Results. We derived a photospheric solar silicon abundance of log ϵSi = 7.57 ± 0.04, including a - 0.01 dex correction from Non-Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (NLTE) effects. Combining this with meteoritic abundances and previously determined photospheric abundances results in a metal mass fraction Z/X = 0.0220 ± 0.0020. We found a tendency of obtaining overly broad synthetic lines. We mitigated the impact of this by devising a de-broadening procedure. The over-broadening of synthetic lines does not substantially affect the abundance determined in the end. It is primarily the line selection that affects the final fitted abundance.
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    Innovative and automated method for vortex identification
    (Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2022) Canivete Cuissa, J. R.; Steiner, O.
    Context. As a universally accepted definition of a vortex has not yet been established, the community lacks an unambiguous and rigorous method for identifying vortices in fluid flows. Such a method would be useful for conducting robust statistical studies on vortices in highly dynamical and turbulent systems such as the solar atmosphere. Aims. We aim to develop an innovative and robust automated methodology for the identification of vortices based on local and global characteristics of the flow, while avoiding the use of a threshold that could potentially prevent the detection of weak vortices in the process. Methods. We present a new method that combines the rigor of mathematical criteria with the global perspective of morphological techniques. The core of the method consists of an estimation of the center of rotation for every point of the flow that presents some degree of curvature in its neighborhood. For this purpose, we employed the Rortex criterion and combined it with morphological considerations of the velocity field. We then identified coherent vortical structures based on clusters of estimated centers of rotation. Results. We demonstrate that the Rortex is a more reliable criterion than the swirling strength and the vorticity for the extraction of physical information from vortical flows, because it measures the rigid-body rotational part of the flow alone and is not biased by the presence of pure or intrinsic shears. We show that the method performs well in the context of a simplistic test case composed of two Lamb-Oseen vortices. We combined the proposed method with a state-of-the-art clustering algorithm to build an automated vortex identification algorithm. The algorithm was applied to an artificial flow composed of multiple Lamb- Oseen vortices, with a random noisy background, and to the turbulent flow of a simulated magneto-hydrodynamical Orszag-Tang vortex test. The results demonstrate the reliability and accuracy of the method. Conclusions. The present automated vortex identification method can be considered a new tool for the detection and study of vortices in dynamical and turbulent (magneto)hydrodynamical flows. By applying the implemented algorithm to numerical simulations and observational data, as well as comparing it to existing detection methods, we seek to successively improve the reliability of the detections and, ultimately, our knowledge on swirling motions in the solar, stellar, and planetary atmospheres.