Three-Dimensional MHD Simulations of Emerging Active Region Flux in a Turbulent Rotating Solar Convective Envelope: the Numerical Model and Initial Results

We describe a 3D finite-difference spherical anelastic MHD (FSAM) code for modeling the subsonic dynamic processes in the solar convective envelope. A comparison of this code with the widely used global spectral anlastic MHD code, ASH (Anelastic Spherical Harmonics), shows that FSAM produces convective flows with statistical properties and mean flows similar to the ASH results. Using FSAM, we first simulate the rotating solar convection in a partial spherical shell domain and obtain a statistically steady, giant-cell convective flow with a solar-like differential rotation. We then insert buoyant toroidal flux tubes near the bottom of the convecting envelope and simulate the rise of the flux tubes in the presence of the giant cell convection. We find that for buoyant flux tubes with an initial field strength of 100 kG, the magnetic buoyancy largely determines the rise of the tubes although strong down flows produce significant undulation and distortion to the shape of the emerging $\Omega$-shaped loops. The convective flows significantly reduce the rise time it takes for the apex of the flux tube to reach the top. For the weakly twisted and untwisted cases we simulated, the apex portion is found to rise nearly radially to the top in about a month, and produce an emerging region (at a depth of about 30 Mm below the photosphere) with an overall tilt angle consistent with the active region tilts, although the emergence pattern is more complex compared to the case without convection. Near the top boundary at a depth of about 30 Mm, the emerging flux shows a retrograde zonal flow of about 345 m/s relative to the mean flow at that latitude.