On the effect of surface bipolar magnetic regions on the convection zone dynamo

Abstract

ABSTRACT We investigate the effect of surface bipolar magnetic regions (BMRs) on the large-scale dynamo distributed in the bulk of the convection zone. The study employs the non-linear three-dimensional mean-field dynamo model. We model the emergence of the BMRs on the surface through the non-axisymmetric magnetic buoyancy effect, which acts on the large-scale toroidal magnetic field in the upper half of the convection zone. The non-axisymmetric magnetic field that results from this mechanism is shallow. On the surface, the effect of the BMRs on the magnetic field generation is dominant. However, because of the shallow distribution of BMRs, its effect on the global dynamo is less compared with the effect on the convective zone dynamo. We find that the mean-field α-effect, which acts on the non-axisymmetric magnetic field of the BMRs, provides the greater contribution to the dynamo process than the tilt of the BMRs. Even so, the fluctuations of the tilt of the BMRs lead to parity braking in the global dynamo. At the surface, the non-axisymmetric magnetic fields, which are generated because of the activity of the BMRs, show a tendency for the bihelical spectrum with positive sign for the low ℓ modes during the maximum of the magnetic activity cycle.