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Simulations of solar wind variations during an 11-year cycle and the influence of north–south asymmetry

Part of: Space Weather Special Issue Present Achievements in SpacePlasmas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 September 2018

B. Perri ,
A. S. Brun ,
V. Réville  and
A. Strugarek
B. Perri*
Affiliation:
AIM, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris-Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
A. S. Brun
Affiliation:
AIM, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris-Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
V. Réville
Affiliation:
AIM, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris-Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France EPSS, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
A. Strugarek
Affiliation:
AIM, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris-Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
*
†Email address for correspondence: barbara.perri@cea.fr
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Abstract

We want to study the connections between the magnetic field generated inside the Sun and the solar wind impacting Earth, especially the influence of north–south asymmetry on the magnetic and velocity fields. We study a solar-like 11-year cycle in a quasi-static way: an asymmetric dynamo field is generated through a 2.5-dimensional (2.5-D) flux-transport model with the Babcock–Leighton mechanism, and then is used as bottom boundary condition for compressible 2.5-D simulations of the solar wind. We recover solar values for the mass loss rate, the spin-down time scale and the Alfvén radius, and are able to reproduce the observed delay in latitudinal variations of the wind and the general wind structure observed for the Sun. We show that the phase lag between the energy of the dipole component and the total surface magnetic energy has a strong influence on the amplitude of the variations of global quantities. We show in particular that the magnetic torque variations can be linked to topological variations during a magnetic cycle, while variations in the mass loss rate appear to be driven by variations of the magnetic energy.

Keywords

astrophysical plasmasspace plasma physics
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 84 , Issue 5 , October 2018 , 765840501
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2018 

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