9 research outputs found
The Radial Distribution of Magnetic Helicity in the Solar Convective Zone: Observations and Dynamo Theory
We continue our attempt to connect observational data on current helicity in
solar active regions with solar dynamo models. In addition to our previous
results about temporal and latitudinal distributions of current helicity
(Kleeorin et al. 2003), we argue that some information concerning the radial
profile of the current helicity averaged over time and latitude can be
extracted from the available observations. The main feature of this
distribution can be presented as follows. Both shallow and deep active regions
demonstrate a clear dominance of one sign of current helicity in a given
hemisphere during the whole cycle. Broadly speaking, current helicity has
opposite polarities in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, although there
are some active regions that violate this polarity rule. The relative number of
active regions violating the polarity rule is significantly higher for deeper
active regions. A separation of active regions into `shallow', `middle' and
`deep' is made by comparing their rotation rate and the helioseismic rotation
law. We use a version of Parker's dynamo model in two spatial dimensions, that
employs a nonlinearity based on magnetic helicity conservation arguments. The
predictions of this model about the radial distribution of solar current
helicity appear to be in remarkable agreement with the available observational
data; in particular the relative volume occupied by the current helicity of
"wrong" sign grows significantly with the depth.Comment: 12 pages, 8 Postscript figures, uses mn2e.cl