Dynamo Models of the Solar Cycle: Current Trends and Future Prospects

The magnetic cycle of the Sun, as manifested in the cyclic appearance of sunspots, significantly influences our space environment and space-based technologies by generating what is now termed as space weather. Long-term variation in the Sun's magnetic output also influences planetary atmospheres and climate through modulation of solar irradiance. Here, I summarize the current state of understanding of this magnetic cycle, highlighting important observational constraints, detailing the kinematic dynamo modeling approach and commenting on future prospects.Comment: To appear in the Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India, Proceedings of the 1st Asia Pacific Solar Physics Meetin

The Origin of Helicity in Solar Active Regions

We present calculations of helicity based on our solar dynamo model and show that the results are consistent with observational data.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of IAU Symposium 22

The role of magnetic buoyancy in a Babcock-Leighton type solar dynamo

We study the effects of incorporating magnetic buoyancy in a model of the solar dynamo-which draws inspiration from the Babcock-Leighton idea of surface processes generating the poloidal field. We present our main results here