3D simulations and MLT: II. RA-ILES results.
2018
In a previous paper (Arnett, et al., 2019) we introduced the use of Reynolds averaged implicit large eddy simulations (Moc\'ak, et al., 2019) to the classical problem of stellar
convection(B\"
ohm-Vitense, 1958; mixing length theory, MLT). We explored the structure of turbulent boundary layers, multi-modal behavior, intermittency, fluctuations, and composition gradients, and found that the Kolmogorov dissipation length played a role in some respects akin to the B\"
ohm-Vitense mixing length. We now extend our analysis by extracting the sub-grid dissipation of our method (the "mixing length"), and by quantifying errors in resolution of boundary layers. The results for weakly-stratified
convectionshow quantitative agreement with the four-fifths law of Kolmogorov. We examine the differences between weakly and strongly stratified
convection(i.e., core
convectionand surface
convection zones, respectively). We find that MLT is a weak-stratification theory (which ignores
turbulent kinetic energy), and for precise work should be modified for strong-stratification cases like the solar and
stellar atmospheres. We derive the `effective mixing length' for strong-stratification; it is the density
scale height, so $\alpha \approx \Gamma \sim 5/3$, in surprising agreement with many
stellar evolutioncalibrations, but smaller than the preferred values for the
Standard Solar Model(SSM), an error we attribute in part to the lack of a turbulent boundary layer, which we find at the bottom of the
convection zonebut missing in MLT and SSM.
Keywords:
-
Correction
-
Source
-
Cite
-
Save
13
References
4
Citations
NaN
KQI