Title: Approaching solar and stellar dynamos from unusual angles: M-dwarf stars, solar polar views, and different dynamo mechanisms
Speaker: Ben Brown (University of Colorado Boulder)
Abstract:
The origins of the solar global-scale magnetic field from dynamo processes remains one of the most important problems in solar physics. Decades of work have answered some questions, but have also created confusion. Maybe we need some different angles to approach this problem. Here I talk about about a few ideas that may, or may not, help us understand our star's magnetism. We'll learn about major outstanding problems in our understanding of the solar interior. We'll look at what we can learn from simulations of the Sun and other stars on the lower main-sequence, especially fully-convective M-dwarf stars. We'll talk a bit about how the poles of the Sun might help us observe "giant cells of convection". We'll end by briefly thinking about other dynamo mechanisms that may play a role in the Sun and other stars. The magnetorotational instability is of particular importance in the NSSL, and this may influence (or drive) the solar dynamo.
