We explore the effects of an outer stably stratified coronal envelope on rotating turbulent convection, differential rotation, and large-scale dynamo action in spherical wedge models of the Sun. We solve the compressible magnetohydrodynamic equations
in a two-layer model with unstable stratification below the surface, representing the convection zone, and a stably stratified coronal envelope above. The interface represents a free surface. We compare our model to models that have no coronal envelope. The presence of a coronal envelope is found to modify the Reynolds stress and the $Lambda$ effect resulting in a weaker and non-cylindrical differential rotation. This is related to the reduced latitudinal temperature variations that are caused by and dependent on the angular velocity. Some simulations develop a near-surface shear layer that we can relate to a sign change in the meridional Reynolds stress term in the thermal wind balance equation. Furthermore, the presence of a free surface changes the magnetic field evolution since the toroidal field is concentrated closer to the surface. In all simulations, however, the migration direction of the mean magnetic field can be explained by the Parker--Yoshimura rule, which is consistent with earlier findings. A realistic treatment of the upper boundary in spherical dynamo simulations is crucial for the dynamics of the flow and magnetic field evolution.
We present results from four convectively-driven stellar dynamo simulations in spherical wedge geometry. All of these simulations produce cyclic and migrating mean magnetic fields. Through detailed comparisons we show that the migration direction can
be explained by an $alphaOmega$ dynamo wave following the Parker--Yoshimura rule. We conclude that the equatorward migration in this and previous work is due to a positive (negative) $alpha$ effect in the northern (southern) hemisphere and a negative radial gradient of $Omega$ outside the inner tangent cylinder of these models. This idea is supported by a strong correlation between negative radial shear and toroidal field strength in the region of equatorward propagation.
We report on turbulent dynamo simulations in a spherical wedge with an outer coronal layer. We apply a two-layer model where the lower layer represents the convection zone and the upper layer the solar corona. This setup is used to study the coronal
influence on the dynamo action beneath the surface. Increasing the radial coronal extent gradually to three times the solar radius and changing the magnetic Reynolds number, we find that dynamo action benefits from the additional coronal extent in terms of higher magnetic energy in the saturated stage. The flux of magnetic helicity can play an important role in this context.
We report on the results of four convective dynamo simulations with an outer coronal layer. The magnetic field is self-consistently generated by the convective motions beneath the surface. Above the convection zone, we include a polytropic layer that
extends to 1.6 solar radii. The temperature increases in this region to $approx8$ times the value at the surface, corresponding to $approx1.2$ times the value at the bottom of the spherical shell. We associate this region with the solar corona. We find solar-like differential rotation with radial contours of constant rotation rate, together with a near-surface shear layer. This non-cylindrical rotation profile is caused by a non-zero latitudinal entropy gradient that offsets the Taylor--Proudman balance through the baroclinic term. The meridional circulation is multi-cellular with a solar-like poleward flow near the surface at low latitudes. In most of the cases, the mean magnetic field is oscillatory with equatorward migration in two cases. In other cases, the equatorward migration is overlaid by stationary or even poleward migrating mean fields.
We present results of convective turbulent dynamo simulations including a coronal layer in a spherical wedge. We find an equatorward migration of the radial and azimuthal fields similar to the behavior of sunspots during the solar cycle. The migratio
n of the field coexist with a spoke-like differential rotation and anti-solar (clockwise) meridional circulation. Even though the migration extends over the whole convection zone, the mechanism causing this is not yet fully understood.
We combine a convectively driven dynamo in a spherical shell with a nearly isothermal density-stratified cooling layer that mimics some aspects of a stellar corona to study the emergence and ejections of magnetic field structures. This approach is an
extension of earlier models, where forced turbulence simulations were employed to generate magnetic fields. A spherical wedge is used which consists of a convection zone and an extended coronal region to $approx1.5$ times the radius of the sphere. The wedge contains a quarter of the azimuthal extent of the sphere and $150degr$ in latitude. The magnetic field is self-consistently generated by the turbulent motions due to convection beneath the surface. Magnetic fields are found to emerge at the surface and are ejected to the coronal part of the domain. These ejections occur at irregular intervals and are weaker than in earlier work. We tentatively associate these events with coronal mass ejections on the Sun, even though our model of the solar atmosphere is rather simplistic.
