Related papers: Limits to solar cycle predictability: Cross-equato…
Meridional circulation is an important ingredient in flux transport dynamo models. We have studied its importance on the period, the amplitude of the solar cycle, and also in producing Maunder-like grand minima in these models. First, we…
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…
Observations of the sun suggest that solar activities systematically create north-south hemispheric asymmetries. For instance, the hemisphere in which the sunspot activity is more active tends to switch after the early half of each solar…
We model the surface magnetic field and open flux of the Sun from 1913 to 1986 using a surface flux transport model, which includes the observed cycle-to-cycle variation of sunspot group tilts. The model reproduces the empirically derived…
The Sun's activity cycle governs the radiation, particle and magnetic flux in the heliosphere creating hazardous space weather. Decadal-scale variations define space climate and force the Earth's atmosphere. However, predicting the solar…
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…
Transits of exoplanets across cool stars contain blended information about structures on the stellar surface and about the planetary body and atmosphere. To advance understanding of how this information is entangled, a surface-flux…
Theoretical models for the solar dynamo range from simple low-dimensional ``toy models'' to complex 3D-MHD simulations. Here we mainly discuss appproaches that are motivated and guided by solar (and stellar) observations. We give a brief…
We observe the abrupt end of solar activity cycles at the Sun's equator by combining almost 140 years of observations from ground and space. These "terminator" events appear to be very closely related to the onset of magnetic activity…
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.…
We present independent observations of the solar-cycle variation of flows near the solar surface and at a depth of about 60 Mm, in the latitude range $\pm45^\circ$. We show that the time-varying components of the meridional flow at these…
Babcock-Leighton process, in which the poloidal field is generated through the decay and dispersal of tilted bipolar magnetic regions (BMRs), is observed to be the major process behind the generating poloidal field in the Sun. Based on this…
One of the key challenges in solar and heliospheric physics is to understand the acceleration of the solar wind. As a super-sonic, super-Alfv\'enic plasma flow, the solar wind carries mass, momentum, energy, and angular momentum from the…
The Babcock-Leighton type of dynamo has received recent support in terms of the discovery in the observational records of systematic cycle-to-cycle variations in the tilt angle of sunspot groups. It has been proposed that these variations…
Photospheric magnetic fields were studied using the Kitt Peak synoptic maps for 1976-2003. Only strong magnetic fields (B>100 G) of the equatorial region were taken into account. The north-south asymmetry of the magnetic fluxes was…
We discuss the potential use of an algebraic method to compute the value of the solar axial dipole moment at solar minimum, widely considered to be the most reliable precursor of the activity level in the next solar cycle. The method…
Several solar-like stars exhibit cyclic magnetic activity similar to the Sun as found in photospheric and chromospheric emission. We want to understand the physical mechanism involved in rotational dependence of these activity cycle…
Aims: We aim to determine the effect of converging flows on the evolution of a bipolar magnetic region (BMR), and to investigate the role of these inflows in the generation of poloidal flux. We also discuss whether the flux dispersal due to…
The concept of surface-flux transport (SFT) is commonly used in evolving models of the large-scale solar surface magnetic field. These photospheric models are used to determine the large-scale structure of the overlying coronal magnetic…
Flux-dominated solar dynamo models have demonstrated to reproduce the main features of the large scale solar magnetic cycle, however the use of a solar like differential rotation profile implies in the the formation of strong toroidal…