MODELING OF SHALLOW AND INEFFICIENT CONVECTION IN THE OUTER LAYERS OFTHE SUN USING REALISTIC PHYSICS

In an attempt to understand the properties of convective energy transp ort in the solar convection zone, a numerical model has been construct ed for turbulent flows in a compressible, radiation-coupled, nonmagnet ic, gravitationally stratified medium using a realistic equation of st ate and realistic opacities. The time-dependent, three-dimensional hyd rodynamic equations are solved with minimal simplifications. The stati stical information obtained from the present simulation provides an im proved understanding of solar photospheric convection. The characteris tics of solar convection in shallow regions is parameterized and compa red with the results of Chan & Sofia's (1989) simulations of deep and efficient convection. We assess the importance of the zones of partial ionization in the simulation and confirm that the radiative energy tr ansfer is negligible throughout the region except in the uppermost sca le heights of the convection zone, a region of very high superadiabati city. When the effects of partial ionization are included, the dynamic s of flows are altered significantly. However, we confirm the Chan & S ofia result that kinetic energy flux is nonnegligible and can have a n egative value in the convection zone.