Solar Photosphere: Structure, Convection, and Magnetic Fields

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Solar and stellar photospheres constitute the layers most accessible to observations, forming the interface between the interior and the outside of the stars. The solar atmosphere is a rich physics laboratory, in which the whole spectrum of radiative, dynamical, and magnetic processes that tranfer energy into space can be observed. As the fundamental processes take place on very small spatial scales, we need high· resolution observations to explore them. On the other hand the small-scale processes act together to form global properties of the sun, which have their origins in the solar interior. The rapid advances in observational techniques and theoreticallllodelling over the past decade made it very timely to bring together scientists from east and west to the first lAU Symposium on this topic. The physics of the photosphere involves complicated interactions between magnetic fields, convection, waves, and radiation. During the past decade our understanding of these gener­ ally small-scale structures and processes has been dramatically advanced. New instrumen­ tations, on ground and in space, have given us new means to study the granular convection. Diagnostic methods in Stokes polarimetry have allowed us to go beyond the limitations of spatial resolution to explore the structure and dynamics of the subarcsec magnetic struc­ tures. Extensive numerical simulations of the interaction between convection and magnetic fields using powerful supercomputers are providing deepened physical insight. Granulation, magnetic fields, and dynamo processes are being explored in the photospheres of other stars, guided by our improved understanding of the solar photosphere.