Related papers: Dynamo models of grand minima
There is mounting evidence that the ejection of magnetic helicity from the solar surface is important for the solar dynamo. Observations suggest that in the northern hemisphere the magnetic helicity flux is negative. We propose that this…
Variations of the sunspot number are important indicators of the solar activity cycles. The sunspot formation is a result of a dynamo process inside the Sun, which is far from being understood. We use simple dynamical models of the dynamo…
The solar cycle onset at mid-latitudes, the slow down of the sunspot drift toward the equator, the tail-like attachment and the overlap of successive cycles at the time of activity minimum are delicate issues in $\alpha\Omega$ dynamo wave…
Whether planetary motions influence the solar magnetic cycle has remained an open question due to the lack of a rigorous physical mechanism. Here we develop a Lagrangian framework based on the Virial theorem to show that planetary orbital…
After summarizing the relevant observational data, we discuss how a study of flux tube dynamics in the solar convection zone helps us to understand the formation of sunspots. Then we introduce the flux transport dynamo model and assess its…
We propose that the poloidal field at the end of the last sunspot cycle before the Maunder minimum fell to a very low value due to fluctuations in the Babcock--Leighton process. With this assumption, a flux transport dynamo model is able to…
We argue that the most prominent temporal features of the solar dynamo, in particular the Hale cycle, the Suess-de Vries cycle (associated with variations of the Gnevyshev-Ohl rule), Gleissberg-type cycles, and grand minima can be…
The growth of a large-scale magnetic field in the Sun and stars is usually possible when the dynamo number (D) is above a critical value Dc. As the star ages, its rotation rate and thus D decrease. Hence, the question is how far the solar…
The availability of continuous helioseismic data for two consecutive solar minima has provided a unique opportunity to study the changes in the solar interior that might have led to this unusual minimum. We present preliminary analysis of…
The solar magnetic activity cycle is responsible for periodic episodes of severe space weather, which can perturb satellite orbits, interfere with communications systems, and bring down power grids. Much progress has recently been made in…
The observed deficit of $\rm ^8B$ solar neutrinos may call for an improved standard model of the sun or an expanded standard model of particle physics ({\it e.g.,} with neutrino masses and mixing). In the former case, contemporary fluid…
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 form of the solar meridional circulation is a very important ingredient for mean field flux transport dynamo models. Yet a shroud of mystery still surrounds this large-scale flow, given that its measurement using current helioseismic…
Large scale dynamo-generated fields are a combination of interlocked poloidal and toroidal fields. Such fields possess magnetic helicity that needs to be regenerated and destroyed during each cycle. A number of numerical experiments now…
During a solar magnetic field reversal the magnetic dipole moment does not vanish, but migrates between poles, in contradiction to the predictions of mean-field dynamo theory. We try to explain this as a consequence of magnetic…
Magnetic fields generated in the Sun's interior by the solar dynamo mechanism drive solar activity over a range of time-scales. While space-based observations of the Sun's corona exist only for few decades, direct sunspot observations exist…
Guided by the recent observational result that the meridional circulation of the Sun becomes weaker at the time of the sunspot maximum, we have included a parametric quenching of the meridional circulation in solar dynamo models such that…
In this paper we first discuss observational evidence of longitudinal concentrations of magnetic activity in the Sun and rapidly rotating late-type stars with outer convective envelopes. Scenarios arising from the idea of rotationally…
Recently discovered long-term oscillations of the solar background magnetic field associated with double dynamo waves generated in inner and outer layers of the Sun indicate that the solar activity is heading in the next three decades…
The faster meridional flow that preceded the solar cycle 23/24 minimum is thought to have led to weaker polar field strengths, producing the extended solar minimum and the unusually weak cycle 24. To determine the impact of meridional flow…