Thermal relaxation of very small solar magnetic structures in intergranules: A process that produces kilogauss magnetic field strengths

The equilibrium configuration of very small magnetic flux tubes in an intergranular environment automatically produces kilogauss magnetic field strengths. We argue that such a process takes place in the Sun and complements the convective collapse (CC), which is traditionally invoked to explain the formation of kilogauss magnetic concentrations in the solar photosphere. In particular, it can concentrate the very weak magnetic fluxes revealed by the new IR spectropolarimeters, for which the operation of the CC may have difficulty. As part of the argument, we show the existence of solar magnetic features of very weak fluxes yet concentrated magnetic fields (some 3 x 10(16) Mx and 1500 G).