Passos, Dário and Lopes, Ilídio (2011), "Grand Minima Under the Light of a Low Order Dynamo Model", Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, 73: 191-197.
Abstract: In this work we use a low order dynamo model and study under which conditions can it reproduce solar grand minima. We begin by building the phase space of a proxy for the toroidal component of the solar magnetic field and we develop a model, derived from mean field dynamo theory, that gives the time evolution of the toroidal field. This model is characterized by a non-linear oscillator whose coefficients retain most of the physics
behind dynamo theory. In the derivation of the model we also include stochastic oscillations in the alpha effect. The results based in this approach indicate that stochastic fluctuations in the alpha effect can account for part of the observed solar variability, but we did not find evidences that it can trigger grand minima. Another result hints that a possible trigger for grand minima might be a decrease in the amplitude of the meridional flow.
Keywords: Magnetic fields; Solar activity cycle; Solar and stellar variability
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