Search

The magnetic activity of a star -- which modulates the stellar wind outflow -- shapes the immediate environments of orbiting planets and induces atmospheric loss thereby impacting their habitability. We perform a detailed parameter space study using three dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations to understand the effect of changing stellar wind magnetic field and planetary magnetic field strengths on planetary magnetospheric topology and atmospheric losses. It is observed that the relative strengths of stellar and planetary magnetic fields play a significant role in determining the steady state magnetospheric configuration and atmospheric erosion. When the stellar field is strengthened or the planetary field is weakened, stellar magnetic field accumulation occurs at the day-side of the planet which forces the magnetopause to shift closer to its surface. The magnetotail opens up leading to the formation of Alfv\'{e}n wings in the night-side wake region. We demonstrate how reconnection processes and wind conditions lead to the bifurcation of the magnetotail current sheet. With increasing stellar wind magnetic field strength, the day-side reconnection point approaches the planet thereby enhancing mass loss. We establish an analytic equation which successfully captures the modeled mass-loss rate variations of planets with changing magnetic field strengths. Our results are relevant for understanding how the interplay of stellar and planetary magnetism influence (exo)planetary environments and their habitability in star-planet systems with differing relative magnetic field strengths, or in a single star-planet system over the course of their evolution with age., Comment: Submitted

The outflowing magnetized wind from a host star shapes planetary and exoplanetary magnetospheres dictating the extent of its impact. We carry out three-dimensional (3D) compressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the interactions between magnetized stellar winds and planetary magnetospheres corresponding to a far-out star-planet system, with and without planetary dipole obliquity. We identify the pathways that lead to the formation of a dynamical steady-state magnetosphere and find that magnetic reconnection plays a fundamental role in the process. The magnetic energy density is found to be greater on the night-side than that on the day-side and the magnetotail is comparatively more dynamic. Magnetotail reconnection events are seen to associated with stellar wind plasma injection into the inner magnetosphere. We further study magnetospheres with extreme tilt angles keeping in perspective the examples of Uranus and Neptune. High dipole obliquities may also manifest due to polarity excursions during planetary field reversals. We find that global magnetospheric reconnection sites change for large planetary dipole obliquity and more complex current sheet structures are generated. We discuss the implications of these findings for injection of interplanetary species and energetic particles into the inner magnetosphere, auroral activity and magnetospheric radio emission. This study is relevant for exploring star planet interactions in the solar and extra-solar systems., Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, 1 table

Effects of a uniform magnetic field on homoclinic bifurcations in Rayleigh-B\'{e}nard convection in a fluid of Prandtl number $Pr = 0.01$ are investigated using direct numerical simulations (DNS). A uniform magnetic field is applied either in the vertical or in the horizontal direction. For a weak vertical magnetic field, the possibilities of both forward and backward homoclinic bifurcations are observed leading to a spontaneous merging of two limit cycles into one as well as a spontaneous breaking of a limit cycle into two for lower values of the Chandrasekhar's number ($Q\leq 5$). A slightly stronger magnetic field makes the convective flow time independent giving the possibility of stationary patterns at the secondary instability. For horizontal magnetic field, the $x\leftrightharpoons y$ symmetry is destroyed and neither a homoclinic gluing nor a homoclinic breaking is observed. Two low-dimensional models are also constructed: one for a weak vertical magnetic field and another for a weak horizontal magnetic field. The models qualitatively capture the features observed in DNS and help understanding the unfolding of bifurcations close to the onset of magnetoconvection., Comment: 17 pages, 18 figures

A model for three-dimensional Rayleigh-B\'{e}nard convection in low-Prandtl-number fluids near onset with rigid horizontal boundaries in the presence of a uniform vertical magnetic field is constructed and analyzed in detail. The kinetic energy $K$, the convective entropy $\Phi$ and the convective heat flux ($Nu-1$) show scaling behaviour with $\epsilon = r-1$ near onset of convection, where $r$ is the reduced Rayleigh number. The model is also used to investigate various magneto-convective structures close to the onset. Straight rolls, which appear at the primary instability, become unstable with increase in $r$ and bifurcate to three-dimensional structures. The straight rolls become periodically varying wavy rolls or quasiperiodically varying structures in time with increase in $r$ depending on the values of Prandtl number $Pr$. They become irregular in time, with increase in $r$. These standing wave solutions bifurcate first to periodic and then quasiperiodic traveling wave solutions, as $r$ is raised further. The variations of the critical Rayleigh number $Ra_{os}$ and the frequency $\omega_{os}$ at the onset of the secondary instability with $Pr$ are also studied for different values of Chandrasekhar's number $Q$., Comment: 11 pages (To appear in EPJB)

We present the results of direct numerical simulations of Rayleigh-B\'enard convection in the presence of a uniform vertical magnetic field near instability onset. We have done simulations in boxes with square as well as rectangular cross-sections in the horizontal plane. We have considered horizontal aspect ratio $\eta = L_y/L_x =1$ and $2$. The onset of the primary and secondary instabilities are strongly suppressed in the presence of the vertical magnetic field for $\eta =1$. The Nusselt number $\mathrm{Nu}$ scales with Rayleigh number $\mathrm{Ra}$ close to the primary instability as $[\mathrm{\{Ra - Ra_c (Q)\}/Ra_c (Q)} ]^{0.91}$, where $\mathrm{Ra_c (Q)}$ is the threshold for onset of stationary convection at a given value of the Chandrasekhar number $\mathrm{Q}$. $\mathrm{Nu}$ also scales with $\mathrm{Ra/Q}$ as $(\mathrm{Ra/Q})^{\mu}$. The exponent $\mu$ varies in the range $0.39 \le \mu \le 0.57$ for $\mathrm{Ra/Q} \ge 25$. The primary instability is stationary as predicted by Chandrasekhar. The secondary instability is temporally periodic for $\mathrm{Pr}=0.1$ but quasiperiodic for $\mathrm{Pr} = 0.025$ for moderate values of $\mathrm{Q}$. Convective patterns for higher values of $\mathrm{Ra}$ consist of periodic, quasiperiodic and chaotic wavy rolls above onset of the secondary instability for $\eta=1$. In addition, stationary as well as time dependent cross-rolls are observed, as $\mathrm{Ra}$ is further raised. The ratio $r_{\circ}/\mathrm{Pr}$ is independent of $\mathrm{Q}$ for smaller values of $\mathrm{Q}$. The delay in onset of the oscillatory instability is significantly reduced in a simulation box with $\eta =2$. We also observe inclined stationary rolls for smaller values of $\mathrm{Q}$ for $\eta =2$., Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures (A slightly modified version is published in Physical Review E)