Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jan 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21731101t&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #311.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Thermohaline mixing has been invoked in stellar contexts to explain the transport of heavy elements across stably stratified regions. Although studied in the Earth's oceans as "salt fingering," extrapolation of the process to the astrophysical regime is problematic due to the extreme values of the governing parameters, in particular the Prandtl number (Pr) and the ratio of the compositional and thermal diffusivities (τ). The current standard approach for modeling thermohaline mixing relies on the finger aspect ratio, and in particular requires tall, thin fingers to explain the observed mixing.
We present the results of a set of low-Pr, low-τ, three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of fingering convection. Rather than assuming a dependence on finger aspect ratio, we find heat and compositional transport laws as a function of the background stratification. These laws scale smoothly with decreasing Pr and τ, making it possible for the first time to reliably parameterize the effect of thermohaline mixing in the astrophysical regime.
The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from the National Science Foundation and the NASA Solar and Heliospheric Program.
Garaud Pascale
Stellmach Stephan
Traxler Adrienne
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