Related papers: The Near-surface Shear Layer (NSSL) of the Sun: A …
The Sun has a Near-Surface Shear Layer (NSSL), within which the angular velocity decreases rapidly with radius. We provide an explanation of this layer based on the thermal wind balance equation. Since convective motions are not affected by…
We present a high-resolution, highly stratified numerical simulation of rotating thermal convection in a spherical shell. Our aim is to study in detail the processes that can maintain a near surface shear layer (NSSL) as inferred from…
The gradient of rotation in the near-surface shear layer (NSSL) of the Sun provides valuable insights into the dynamics associated with the solar activity cycle and the dynamo. Results obtained with global oscillation mode-splittings lack…
The dynamical origins of the Sun's tachocline and near-surface shear layer (NSSL) are still not well understood. We have attempted to self-consistently reproduce a NSSL in numerical simulations of a solar-like convection zone by increasing…
The advent of helioseismology has determined in detail the average rotation rate of the Sun as a function of radius and latitude. These data immediately reveal two striking boundary layers of shear in the solar convection zone (CZ): a…
We carry out an unprecedented high-resolution simulation for the solar convection zone. Our calculation reproduces the fast equator and near-surface shear layer (NSSL) of differential rotation and the near-surface poleward meridional flow…
Helioseismology has discovered a thin layer beneath the solar surface where the rotation rate increases rapidly with depth. The normalized rotational shear in the upper 10 Mm of the layer is constant with latitude. Differential rotation…
We use helioseismic data obtained over two solar cycles to determine whether there are changes in the near-surface shear layer (NSSL). We examine this by determining the radial gradient of the solar rotation rate. The radial gradient itself…
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…
As we approach solar convection simulations that seek to model the interaction of small-scale granulation and supergranulation and even larger scales of convection within the near-surface shear layer (NSSL), the treatment of the boundary…
Understanding effects driven by rotation in the solar convection zone is essential for many problems related to solar activity, such as the formation of differential rotation, meridional circulation, and others. We analyze realistic 3D…
Convective motions in the deep layers of the solar convection zone are affected by rotation, making the convective heat transport latitude-dependent, but this is not the case in the top layers near the surface. We use the thermal wind…
We use global and local helioseismic inversions to explore the prevailing dynamical balances in the solar Near-Surface Shear Layer (NSSL). The differential rotation and meridional circulation are intimately linked, with a common origin in…
The discovery of the solar activity cycle was linked from the outset to the observation of the temporal variability of sunspots, which we know to be the result of complex processes associated with the dynamics of inner layers. Numerous…
We present evidence of hitherto undiscovered global-scale oscillations in the near-surface shear layer of the Sun. These oscillations are seen as large scale variations of radial shear in both the zonal and meridional flows relative to…
The location of the solar dynamo is discussed in the context of new insights into the theory of nonlinear turbulent dynamos. It is argued that, from a dynamo-theoretic point of view, the bottom of the convection zone is not a likely…
The differential rotation of the sun, as deduced from helioseismology, exhibits a prominent radial shear layer near the top of the convection zone wherein negative radial gradients of angular velocity are evident in the low- and…
The Sun's global meridional circulation is evident as a slow poleward flow at its surface. This flow is observed to carry magnetic elements poleward - producing the Sun's polar magnetic fields as a key part of the 11-year sunspot cycle.…
We extend the notion of a shell model to stratified systems, and propose one that represents stratified, nonmagnetic, nonrotating convection at low Mach number. Motivated by profiles of background stratification that support convection in…
The radial gradient of the rotation rate in the near-surface shear layer (NSSL) of the Sun is independent of latitude and radius. Theoretical mean-field models have been successful in explaining this property of the solar NSSL, while global…