Discrete cellular scales of solar convection

Abstract

The theoretical power spectrum of velocity fields and flux fluctuations at the solar photosphere is calculated using a quasi-nonlinear framework of superposition of unstable convective eigen modes excited in the solar convection zone. It is demonstrated that this power spectrum exhibits at least three distinct peaks corresponding to granulation, mesogranulation and supergranulation. The vertical velocity and the brightness fluctuation at the solar surface are found to be correlated. The theoretical framework can be adopted for application to other types of stars in order to predict the dominant length scales in the power spectrum of convection in these stars.