Kinematic mean-field flux transport dynamo models (FTMs) are the most popular frameworks used to explain the evolution of the solar magnetic field strenght over time (responsible for the solar cycle). TThese models are based on the transport of magnetic field around the Sun by a large scale plasma flow called Meridional Circulation (MC). This flow behaves somewhat like a conveyor belt moving magnetized plasma from the solar surface to the Sun's interior and vice-versa. Until recently FTMs didn't took into consideration the back-reaction that the magnetic field imparts in the MC and therefore simulations were exclusively done in the kinematic regime (steady MC). Now, new results based in 3D MHD simulations of solar convection challenge this ubiquitous theoretical approach by showing that the MC is very much influenced and even modeled by the magnetic field. These results, published this week in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, are potentially transformative and can lead to a paradigm shift in mean field dynamo simulations. Read all about it here: Dário Passos et al. 2015 ApJ 800 L18
