A stochastically forced time delay solar dynamo model: Self-consistent recovery from a maunder-like grand minimum necessitates a mean-field alpha effect
- Department of Physical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, West Bengal (India)
- CENTRA-IST, Instituto Superior Técnico, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal)
Fluctuations in the Sun's magnetic activity, including episodes of grand minima such as the Maunder minimum have important consequences for space and planetary environments. However, the underlying dynamics of such extreme fluctuations remain ill-understood. Here, we use a novel mathematical model based on stochastically forced, non-linear delay differential equations to study solar cycle fluctuations in which time delays capture the physics of magnetic flux transport between spatially segregated dynamo source regions in the solar interior. Using this model, we explicitly demonstrate that the Babcock-Leighton poloidal field source based on dispersal of tilted bipolar sunspot flux, alone, cannot recover the sunspot cycle from a grand minimum. We find that an additional poloidal field source effective on weak fields—e.g., the mean-field α effect driven by helical turbulence—is necessary for self-consistent recovery of the sunspot cycle from grand minima episodes.
- OSTI ID:
- 22356531
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 789, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Solar Cycle Variability Induced by Tilt Angle Scatter in a Babcock–Leighton Solar Dynamo Model
The Nature of Grand Minima and Maxima from Fully Nonlinear Flux Transport Dynamos