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SUMMARY:Magnetized fingering convection - Prof. Pascale Garaud (UC Santa C
 ruz)
DTSTART:20190520T130000Z
DTEND:20190520T140000Z
UID:TALK121876@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr William Béthune
DESCRIPTION:Double-diffusive convection has been well studied in geophysic
 al contexts\, but detailed investigations of the regimes characteristic of
  stellar or planetary interiors have only recently become feasible. As mos
 t astrophysical fluids are electrically conducting\, it is possible that m
 agnetic fields play a role in either enhancing or suppressing double-diffu
 sive convection\, but to date there have been no numerical investigations 
 of such possibilities. Here we study the effects of a vertical background 
 magnetic field (aligned with the gravitational axis) on the linear stabili
 ty and nonlinear saturation of fingering (thermohaline) convection\, throu
 gh a combination of theoretical work and direct numerical simulations. We 
 find that a vertical magnetic field rigidifies the fingers along the verti
 cal direction\, which has the remarkable effect of enhancing vertical mixi
 ng. We propose a simple analytical model for mixing by magnetized fingerin
 g convection\, and argue that magnetic effects may help explain discrepanc
 ies between theoretical and observed mixing rates in low-mass red giant br
 anch stars. Other implications of our findings are also discussed.
LOCATION:MR14\,  Centre for Mathematical Sciences\, Wilberforce Road\, Cam
 bridge
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