Abstract
In a reference frame rotating with Mercury’s mantle and crust, the inner
core and fluid core precess in a retrograde sense with a period of
58.646 days. The precession of a triaxial inner core with a different
density than the fluid core induces a periodic gravity variation of
degree 2, order 1. Elastic deformations from the pressure that the
precessing fluid core exerts on the core mantle boundary also contribute
to this gravity signal. We show that the periodic change in Stokes
coefficients ΔC21 and ΔS21 for this signal of internal origin is of the
order of 10^{-10}, similar in magnitude to the signal from solar
tides. The relative contribution from the inner core increases with
inner core radius and with the amplitude of its tilt angle with respect
to the mantle. The latter depends on the strength of electromagnetic
coupling at the inner core boundary which in turn depends on the radial
magnetic field B_r; a larger B_r generates a larger tilt. The inner
core signal features a contrast between ΔC21 and ΔS21 due to its
triaxial shape, discernible for an inner core radius >500
km if B_r>0.1 mT, or for an inner core radius
>1100 km if B_r<0.01 mT. A detection of this
contrast would confirm the presence of an inner core and place
constraints on its size and the strength of the internal magnetic field.
These would provide key constraints for the thermal evolution of Mercury
and for its dynamo mechanism.