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The Dynamo Mechanism in the Deep Convection Zone of the Sun

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2010

M. R. E. Proctor
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
P. C. Matthews
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
A. M. Rucklidge
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

The helioseismological results about the Solar law of rotation pose some serious problems for dynamo theory. However, if the magnetic flux is bounded in the lower part of the convection zone and the α-effect is concentrated at the equator, it is possible to obtain correct butterfly diagrams. This model seems to be a natural combination of the new law of rotation, the suggested storage of the magnetic flux at the bottom of the convection zone, the trapping of flux tubes at low latitudes and the induction effect of magnetos trophic waves.

THE DYNAMO IN THE CONVECTION ZONE

In 1969, Steenbeck & Krause presented results of the first hydrodynamic dynamo model acting in the turbulent convection zone (CZ) and based on the idea of mean field electrodynamics. They introduced two spherical shells for the induction effects: in the inner, there is the differential rotation (Ω ∼ r) and in the outer, one has the turbulent rotating matter (α ∼ Cos v). This simple model is in agreement with most of the observed magnetic patterns, such as the butterfly diagram (Figure 1), H ale's polarity rule and the 22 year period of the Solar cycle.

During half a cycle, i.e. eleven years, the activity belts, as a measure of the toroidal field, move from about ±30° latitude towards the equator. In the vicinity of the pole, there are no active regions. But observations of torsional oscillations (Howard & LaBonte 1982) and Solar wind (Legrand & Simon 1991) suggest that the toroidal field starts the reversal of its polarity there (Schussler 1981).

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1994

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