Latitude Distribution of Sunspots: Analysis Using Sunspot Data and a Dynamo Model

Abstract We suggest that the latitude distribution of solar activity belts and the related equatorward or poleward migration of different tracers of the solar cycle are a natural consequence of the internal radial profile of angular velocity via the working of a dynamo in the boundary layer beneath the convection zone. This has been confirmed by the results of a non-linear dynamo model in a very thin spherical shell which show that dynamo action may reasonably take place in the boundary layer and reproduce the observed surface phenomenology.Extending the argument to late main-sequence stars, it is reasonable to think that observations of the latitude distribution and migration of stellar active regions by current sophisticated techniques may make it possible to infer their internal rotation profile in a simple and direct way.

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Solar dynamo model with nonlocal alpha-effect and diamagnetic pumping

Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s1743921313002871 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 8 (S294) ◽

pp. 429-430

Author(s):

L. L. Kitchatinov ◽

S. V. Olemskoy

Keyword(s):

Field Data ◽

Large Scale ◽

Solar Magnetic Field ◽

Convection Zone ◽

Dynamo Model ◽

Cycle Period ◽

Magnetic Cycle ◽

Magnetic Field Data ◽

Sunspot Data ◽

Alpha Effect

AbstractSunspot data and large-scale solar magnetic field data are used to demonstrate the operation of the Babcock-Leighton mechanism on the Sun. A dynamo model is developed that employs jointly a nonlocal alpha-effect of the Babcock-Leighton type and diamagnetic downward pumping. The pumping concentrates magnetic fields to the base of the convection zone. The magnetic cycle period, equatorial symmetry of the generated fields, their meridional drift, and the polar-to-toroidal field ratio obtained in the model agree with observations.

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Prediction of solar activity cycles by assimilating sunspot data into a dynamo model

Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s1743921309992638 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 5 (S264) ◽

pp. 202-209 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Irina N. Kitiashvili ◽

Alexander G. Kosovichev

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Field ◽

Solar Activity ◽

Solar Cycle ◽

Sunspot Number ◽

Magnetic Activity ◽

Magnetic Helicity ◽

Dynamo Model ◽

Solar Cycles ◽

Sunspot Data ◽

Cycle 24

AbstractSolar activity is a determining factor for space climate of the Solar system. Thus, predicting the magnetic activity of the Sun is very important. However, our incomplete knowledge about the dynamo processes of generation and transport of magnetic fields inside Sun does not allow us to make an accurate forecast. For predicting the solar cycle properties use the Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) to assimilate the sunspot data into a simple dynamo model. This method takes into account uncertainties of both the dynamo model and the observed sunspot number series. The method has been tested by calculating predictions of the past cycles using the observed annual sunspot numbers only until the start of these cycles, and showed a reasonable agreement between the predicted and actual data. After this, we have calculated a prediction for the upcoming solar cycle 24, and found that it will be approximately 30% weaker than the previous one, confirming some previous expectations. In addition, we have investigated the properties of the dynamo model during the solar minima, and their relationship to the strength of the following solar cycles. The results show that prior the weak cycles, 20 and 23, and the upcoming cycle, 24, the vector-potential of the poloidal component of magnetic field and the magnetic helicity substantial decrease. The decrease of the poloidal field corresponds to the well-known correlation between the polar magnetic field strength at the minimum and the sunspot number at the maximum. However, the correlation between the magnetic helicity and the future cycle strength is new, and should be further investigated.

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Solar Internal Rotation and Dynamo Waves: A Two-Dimensional Asymptotic Solution in the Convection Zone

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100064861 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 179 ◽

pp. 379-380

Author(s):

Gaetano Belvedere ◽

Kirill Kuzanyan ◽

Dmitry Sokoloff

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Field ◽

Asymptotic Solution ◽

Internal Rotation ◽

Convection Zone ◽

General Idea ◽

Dynamo Model ◽

Axially Symmetric ◽

Dynamo Action ◽

Regeneration Rate ◽

Dynamo Waves

Extended abstractHere we outline how asymptotic models may contribute to the investigation of mean field dynamos applied to the solar convective zone. We calculate here a spatial 2-D structure of the mean magnetic field, adopting real profiles of the solar internal rotation (the Ω-effect) and an extended prescription of the turbulent α-effect. In our model assumptions we do not prescribe any meridional flow that might seriously affect the resulting generated magnetic fields. We do not assume apriori any region or layer as a preferred site for the dynamo action (such as the overshoot zone), but the location of the α- and Ω-effects results in the propagation of dynamo waves deep in the convection zone. We consider an axially symmetric magnetic field dynamo model in a differentially rotating spherical shell. The main assumption, when using asymptotic WKB methods, is that the absolute value of the dynamo number (regeneration rate) |D| is large, i.e., the spatial scale of the solution is small. Following the general idea of an asymptotic solution for dynamo waves (e.g., Kuzanyan & Sokoloff 1995), we search for a solution in the form of a power series with respect to the small parameter |D|–1/3(short wavelength scale). This solution is of the order of magnitude of exp(i|D|1/3S), where S is a scalar function of position.

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An 84-μG Magnetic Field in a Galaxy at Z=0.692?

Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s1743921308027439 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 4 (S254) ◽

pp. 95-96

Author(s):

Arthur M. Wolfe ◽

Regina A. Jorgenson ◽

Timothy Robishaw ◽

Carl Heiles ◽

Jason X. Prochaska

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Field ◽

Magnetic Fields ◽

Faraday Rotation ◽

Large Scale ◽

Dynamo Model ◽

Magnetic Field Generation ◽

Interstellar Gas ◽

Splitting Technique ◽

Average Value ◽

The Magnetic Field

AbstractThe magnetic field pervading our Galaxy is a crucial constituent of the interstellar medium: it mediates the dynamics of interstellar clouds, the energy density of cosmic rays, and the formation of stars (Beck 2005). The field associated with ionized interstellar gas has been determined through observations of pulsars in our Galaxy. Radio-frequency measurements of pulse dispersion and the rotation of the plane of linear polarization, i.e., Faraday rotation, yield an average value B ≈ 3 μG (Han et al. 2006). The possible detection of Faraday rotation of linearly polarized photons emitted by high-redshift quasars (Kronberg et al. 2008) suggests similar magnetic fields are present in foreground galaxies with redshifts z > 1. As Faraday rotation alone, however, determines neither the magnitude nor the redshift of the magnetic field, the strength of galactic magnetic fields at redshifts z > 0 remains uncertain.Here we report a measurement of a magnetic field of B ≈ 84 μG in a galaxy at z =0.692, using the same Zeeman-splitting technique that revealed an average value of B = 6 μG in the neutral interstellar gas of our Galaxy (Heiles et al. 2004). This is unexpected, as the leading theory of magnetic field generation, the mean-field dynamo model, predicts large-scale magnetic fields to be weaker in the past, rather than stronger (Parker 1970).The full text of this paper was published in Nature (Wolfe et al. 2008).

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Stable stratification promotes multiple zonal jets in a turbulent Jovian dynamo model

Icarus ◽

10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114514 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 114514

Author(s):

T. Gastine ◽

J. Wicht

Keyword(s):

Stable Stratification ◽

Dynamo Model ◽

Zonal Jets

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The magnetic helicity density patterns from non-axisymmetric solar dynamo

Journal of Plasma Physics ◽

10.1017/s0022377820001609 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 87 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Valery V. Pipin

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Field ◽

Differential Rotation ◽

Conservation Law ◽

Large Scale ◽

Solar Dynamo ◽

Magnetic Helicity ◽

Dynamo Model ◽

Density Distributions ◽

Large Scale Magnetic Field ◽

Helicity Conservation

We study the helicity density patterns which can result from the emerging bipolar regions. Using the relevant dynamo model and the magnetic helicity conservation law we find that the helicity density patterns around the bipolar regions depend on the configuration of the ambient large-scale magnetic field, and in general they show a quadrupole distribution. The position of this pattern relative to the equator can depend on the tilt of the bipolar region. We compute the time–latitude diagrams of the helicity density evolution. The longitudinally averaged effect of the bipolar regions shows two bands of sign for the density distributions in each hemisphere. Similar helicity density patterns are provided by the helicity density flux from the emerging bipolar regions subjected to surface differential rotation.

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