Bibcode
Sánchez Almeida, J.
Referencia bibliográfica
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 450, Issue 3, May II 2006, pp.1199-1202
Fecha de publicación:
5
2006
Revista
Número de citas
9
Número de citas referidas
9
Descripción
Khomenko et al. estimate the mean magnetic field strength of the quiet
Sun to be 20 G. The figure is smaller than several existing estimates,
and it comes from the comparison between observed Zeeman polarization
signals and synthetic signals from numerical simulations of
magneto-convection. The numerical simulations require an artificially
large magnetic diffusivity, which smears out magnetic structures smaller
than the grid scale. Assuming a turbulent cascade for the unresolved
artificially smeared magnetic fields, we find that their unsigned
magnetic flux is at least as important as that explicitly shown in the
simulation. The unresolved fields do not produce Zeeman polarization but
contribute to the unsigned flux. Since they are not considered by
Khomenko et al., their mean magnetic field strength has to be regarded
as a lower limit. This kind of bias is not specific of a particular
numerical simulation or a spectral line. It is to be expected when
observed quiet Sun Zeeman signals are compared with synthetic signals
from simulations.