Related papers: The Sun's Shallow Meridional Circulation
Helioseismology has revealed an increase in the rotation rate with depth in a thin ($\sim$30 Mm) near-surface layer. The normalized rotational shear in this layer is independent of latitude. This rotational state is shown to be a…
Long-term sunspot observations and solar activity reconstructions reveal that the Sun occasionally slips into quiescent phases known as solar grand minima, the dynamics during which is not well understood. We use a flux transport dynamo…
The phenomenon of solar "torsional oscillations" (TO) represents migratory zonal flows associated with the solar cycle. These flows are observed on the solar surface and, according to helioseismology, extend through the convection zone. We…
The spectroscopic variability of Arcturus hints at cyclic activity cycle and differential rotation. This could provide a test of current theoretical models of solar and stellar dynamos. To examine the applicability of current models of the…
Solar magnetic fields comprise an 11-year activity cycle, represented by the number of sunspots. The maintenance of such a solar magnetic field can be attributed to fluid motion in the convection zone, i.e. a dynamo. This study conducts the…
The most widely accepted model of the solar cycle is the flux transport dynamo model. This model evolved out of the traditional $\alpha \Omega$ dynamo model which was first developed at a time when the existence of the Sun's meridional…
Synoptic magnetograms and relevant proxy data were analyzed to study the evolution of the Sun's polar magnetic fields. Time-latitude analysis of large-scale magnetic fields demonstrates cyclic changes in their zonal structure and the…
A brief summary of the various observations and constraints that underlie solar dynamo research are presented. The arguments that indicate that the solar dynamo is an alpha-omega dynamo of the Babcock-Leighton type are then shortly…
The magnetic field of the Sun is generated by internal dynamo process with a cyclic period of 11 years or a 22 year magnetic cycle. The signatures of the Sun's magnetic cycle are observed in the different layers of its atmosphere and in its…
Using data from the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) instrument on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), we study the large-scale velocity fields in the outer part of the solar convection zone using the ring diagram technique.…
Mean field dynamo theory deals with various mean quantities and does not directly throw any light on the question of existence of flux tubes. We can, however, draw important conclusions about flux tubes in the interior of the Sun by…
Heat is transported through the outermost 30% of the Sun's interior by overturning convective motions. These motions are evident at the Sun's surface in the form of two characteristic cellular structures - granules and supergranules (~1000…
We present a nonlinear mean-field model of the solar interior dynamics and dynamo, which reproduces the observed cyclic variations of the global magnetic field of the Sun, as well as the differential rotation and meridional circulation.…
Traditionally, solar physicists become anxious around solar minimum, as they await the high-latitude sunspot groups of the new cycle. Now, we are in an extended sunspot minimum with conditions not seen in recent memory, and interest in the…
We explore the importance of meridional circulation variations in modelling the irregularities of the solar cycle by using the flux transport dynamo model. We show that a fluctuating meridional circulation can reproduce some features of the…
Data obtained by the GONG and MDI instruments over the last seven years are used to study how solar dynamics -- both rotation and other large scale flows -- have changed with time. In addition to the well known phenomenon of bands of faster…
A physically consistent model of magnetic field generation by convection in a rotating spherical shell with a minimum of parameters is applied to the Sun. Despite its unrealistic features the model exhibits a number of properties resembling…
The operation of the solar dynamo, with all of its remarkable spatio-temporal ordering, remains an outstanding problem of modern solar physics. A number of mechanisms that might plausibly contribute to its operation have been proposed, but…
Magnetic fields are usually observed in the quiet Sun as small-scale elements that cover the entire solar surface (the `salt and pepper' patterns in line-of-sight magnetograms). By using 3D radiative MHD numerical simulations we find that…
The Sun rotates differentially with a fast equator and slow pole. Convection in the solar interior is thought to maintain the differential rotation. However, although many numerical simulations have been conducted to reproduce the solar…