Explaining the variation of the meridional circulation with the solar cycle

Abstract

The meridional circulation of the Sun is observationally found to vary with the solar cycle, becoming slower during the solar maxima. We explain this by constructing a theoretical model in which the equation of the meridional circulation (the $\varphi$ component of the vorticity equation) is coupled with the equations of the flux transport dynamo model. We find that the Lorentz force of the dynamo-generated magnetic fields can slow down the \MC\ during the solar maxima in broad conformity with the observations.

4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of IAU Symposium No. 340, 2018

References in corpus (2)

• Correlation between Decay Rate and Amplitude of Solar Cycles as Revealed from Observations and Dynamo Theory
• A theoretical model of the variation of the meridional circulation with the solar cycle