Open AccessTowards a model for the solar dynamo
Author(s) -
Moss David,
Brooke John
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2000.03452.x
Subject(s) - physics , dynamo , intermittency , angular velocity , dynamo theory , solar dynamo , solar rotation , astrophysics , magnetic field , classical mechanics , solar physics , mechanics , turbulence , quantum mechanics
We study a mean field model of the solar dynamo, in which the non‐linearity is the action of the azimuthal component of the Lorentz force of the dynamo‐generated magnetic field on the angular velocity. The underlying zero‐order angular velocity is consistent with recent determinations of the solar rotation law, and the form of the alpha effect is chosen so as to give a plausible butterfly diagram. For small Prandtl numbers we find regular, intermittent and apparently chaotic behaviour, depending on the size of the alpha coefficient. For certain parameters, the intermittency displays some of the characteristics believed to be associated with the Maunder minimum. We thus believe that we are capturing some features of the solar dynamo.