डॉ. अरविंद भटनागर स्मृति व्याख्यान

On the solar surface, we find a continuous flow of material from the equator to the poles. To avoid material piling up at the poles, there has to be a back-flow somewhere underneath the solar surface, which is now mapped by helioseismology. This flow – known as the meridional circulation – plays an important role in the dynamo process producing the 11-year sunspot cycle. I shall discuss our present-day observational and theoretical understanding of this intriguing circulation. The theory of the meridional circulation is intimately connected with the theory of differential rotation and provides a clue about the formation of the near-surface shear layer. It is found that the meridional circulation becomes weaker at the time of the sunspot maximum. I shall present our recent work on modelling this theoretically.