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Why does the sun's torsional oscillation begin before the sunspot cycle?
Sagar Chakraborty1, Arnab Rai Choudhuri, Piyali Chatterjee
1Department of Theoretical Sciences, S. N. Bose Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata-700098, India.
Abstract:
Although the Sun's torsional oscillation is believed to be driven by the Lorentz force associated with the sunspot cycle, this oscillation begins 2-3 yr before the sunspot cycle. We provide a theoretical explanation of this with the help of a solar dynamo model having a meridional circulation penetrating slightly below the bottom of the convection zone, because only in such dynamo models does the strong toroidal field form a few years before the sunspot cycle and at a higher latitude.
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