Solar-Wind Model Including the Effects of Rotation, Magnetic Fields, and Anisotropic Heat Conduction

Abstract

A time-independent solar-wind model is considered in the case of spherical symmetry and of radial magnetic field at the sun’s surface. The energy equation includes besides the usual terms also the heat conduction and magnetic-energy convection (Poynting vector) terms. The dependence of the thermal conductivity on the magnetic field is taken into account. Numerical integrations of the basic equations were performed under the following assumptions: (i) close to the sun the magnetic field is the dominant azimuthal term and solid-body rotation is enforced; (ii) beyond the Alfvénic point the terms quadratic in B are neglected. The model leads to azimuthal velocity at earth between 0.6 and 2.7 km/sec, to radial velocity at earth between 350 and 500 km/sec, and to angular momentum loss of 5 × 10¹⁸ cm²/sec per unit mass of gas leaving the solar equator. The dependence of the solutions on the reduction of the effective thermal conductivity caused by the micro-structures in the solar wind suggests that the conditions at earth may be largely determined by a transition region in the solar wind, in which the conduction régime changes into an almost adiabatic flow.