Rotational shear near the solar surface as a probe for subphotospheric magnetic fields

Abstract

Helioseismology revealed an increase in the rotation rate with depth just beneath the solar surface. The relative magnitude of the radial shear is almost constant with latitude. This rotational state can be interpreted as a consequence of two conditions characteristic of the near-surface convection: the smallness of convective turnover time in comparison with the rotation period and absence of a horizontal preferred direction of convection anisotropy. The latter condition is violated in the presence of a magnetic field. This raises the question of whether the subphotospheric fields can be probed with measurements of near-surface rotational shear. The shear is shown to be weakly sensitive to magnetic fields but can serve as a probe for sufficiently strong fields of the order of one kilogauss. It is suggested that the radial differential rotation in extended convective envelopes of red giants is of the same origin as the near-surface rotational shear of the Sun.