Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Feb 2003
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003padeu..13...21n&link_type=abstract
In: Contributions to NATO Advanced Research Workshop Turbulence, Waves, and Instabilities in the Solar Plasma; Hungary, 16-20 Se
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Turbulent flows in the interior of the Sun, both at small and large scales, are believed to feed and sustain the solar hydromagnetic dynamo that generates the solar cycle. The solar cycle itself strikingly manifests in a 11-year periodic variation in the number of sunspots seen on the solar surface. Sunspots are regions of concentrated magnetic fields, occurring at low latitudes on the solar surface and are believed to be tracers of the underlying dynamo mechanism. An important ingredient in recent models of the dynamo mechanism is the meridional flow of material, which is believed to originate from turbulent stresses in the solar convection zone. This meridional circulation is observed to be poleward in the outer 15% of the Sun and must be balanced by an equatorward counterflow in the interior. The nature and exact location of this counterflow, however, is unknown. We discuss here results from a dynamo model that reproduces the correct latitudinal distribution of sunspots and show that this requires a meridional counterflow of material that penetrates much deeper than hitherto believed -- into the radiative layers below the convection zone. We comment on the viability of such a deep counterflow of material and discuss its implications for turbulent convection and elemental abundance in the Sun and related stellar atmospheres.
Choudhuri Arnab Rai
Nandy Dibyendu
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