Related papers: Distributed versus tachocline dynamos
The helioseismically observed solar tachocline is a thin internal boundary layer of shear that separates the rigidly-rotating solar radiative zone from the differentially-rotating convective zone and is believed to play a central role in…
Selected topics in solar dynamo theory are being highlighted. The possible relevance of the near-surface shear layer is discussed. The role of turbulent downward pumping is mentioned in connection with earlier concerns that a…
In the solar convection zone, rotation couples with intensely turbulent convection to build global-scale flows of differential rotation and meridional circulation. Our sun must have rotated more rapidly in its past, as is suggested by…
Rotational shear layers at the boundary between radiative and convective zones, tachoclines, play a key role in the process of magnetic field generation in solar-like stars. We present two sets of global simulations of rotating turbulent…
The Sun's magnetic dynamo cycle features a distinct pattern: a propagating region of sunspot emergence appears around 30 degrees latitude and vanishes near the equator every 11 years. Moreover, longitudinal flows called "torsional…
Gough & McIntyre have suggested that the dynamics of the solar tachocline are dominated by the advection-diffusion balance between the differential rotation, a large-scale primordial field and baroclinicly driven meridional motions. This…
Spherical solar dynamo simulations are performed. Self-consistent, fully compressible magnetohydrodynamic system with a stably stratified layer below the convective envelope is numerically solved with a newly developed simulation code based…
The solar activity cycle is successfully modeled by the flux transport dynamo, in which the meridional circulation of the Sun plays an important role. Most of the kinematic dynamo simulations assume a one-cell structure of the meridional…
The operation of the solar global dynamo appears to involve many dynamical elements. Self-consistent MHD simulations which realistically incorporate all of these processes are not yet computationally feasible, though some elements can now…
The degree of intermittency of the magnetic field of a large-scale dynamo is considered. Based on simulations it is argued that there is a tendency for the field to become more diffuse and non-intermittent as the dynamo saturates. The…
Helioseismology shows that the regions occupied by convection and differential rotation inside the sun almost coincide. This supports the leading theoretical concept for the origin of differential rotation as a result of interaction between…
The solar tachocline is an internal region of the Sun possessing strong radial and latitudinal shears straddling the base of the convective envelope. Based on helioseismic inversions, the tachocline is known to be thin (less than 5\% of the…
The meridional circulation of the Sun, which is observed to be poleward at the surface, should have a return flow at some depth. Since large-scale flows like the differential rotation and the meridional circulation are driven by turbulent…
Recent analyses of helioseismological observations seem to suggest the presence of two new phenomena connected with the dynamics of the solar convective zone. Firstly, there are present torsional oscillations with periods of about 11 years,…
We report on turbulent dynamo simulations in a spherical wedge with an outer coronal layer. We apply a two-layer model where the lower layer represents the convection zone and the upper layer the solar corona. This setup is used to study…
Parker's analytic Cartesian interface dynamo is generalized to the case of a shear layer of finite thickness and low resistivity ("tachocline"), bounded by a perfect conductor ("radiative zone") on the one side, and by a highly diffusive…
The paper presents a study of a solar dynamo model operating in the bulk of the convection zone with the toroidal magnetic field flux concentrated in the subsurface rotational shear layer. We explore how this type of dynamo may depend on…
Flux-dominated solar dynamo models, which have demonstrated to be quite successful in reproducing most of the observed features of the large scale solar magnetic cycle, generally produce an inappropriate latitudinal distribution of the…
Helioseismic inversions of the Sun's internal angular velocity profile show that the rotation changes from differential in latitude in the convection zone to almost uniform in the radiative region below. The transition occurs in a thin…
The surprising thinness of the solar tachocline is still not understood with certainty today. Among the numerous possible scenarios suggested to explain its radial confinement, one hypothesis is based on Maxwell stresses that are exerted by…