Project dp048 – PI I. Baraffe – Data Intensive Cluster System in Leicester & Cambridge
Despite being the most observed star in the Universe, many open questions remain regarding the properties of convection and waves in the deep interior of the Sun. Sophisticated numerical simulations can unveil some important properties and provide a better understanding of the Sun’s convection and internal waves (Vlaykov et al. 2022; Le Saux et al 2022). Performed with the DIRAC facilities, our numerical simulations of the Sun’s convective envelope and stable, radiative central region (see image) revealed in particular a local heating process resulting from downward plume penetration below the Sun’s convective envelope. This process can have important impact on the Sun’s structure and help solving a well known problem, namely the sound-speed discrepancy between solar models and the observed structure of the Sun inferred from helioseismology (Baraffe et al. 2022).
