RECORD
Understanding solar cycle variability
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Submitted 30 May 2017
abstract compiled · 2026-09-23 · no language-model review
The authors' main claim Drawing from dynamo theory together with empirical results of past solar activity and of similar phenomena on solar-like stars, we show that the variability of the solar cycle can be essentially understood in terms of a weakly nonlinear limit cycle affected by random noise.
The compiled record
The paper's own sentences, arranged. Each label is drawn from a closed vocabulary; the number beside it is the probability the classifier gave that label. Numbers in the tables are the authors', checked by code. No sentence in this record was written by a model.
Open the compiled record
The abstract, sentence by sentence
The level of solar magnetic activity, as exemplified by the number of sunspots and by energetic events in the corona, varies on a wide range of time scales. Most prominent is the 11-year solar cycle, which is significantly modulated on longer time scales. Drawing from dynamo theory together with empirical results of past solar activity and of similar phenomena on solar-like stars, we show that the variability of the solar cycle can be essentially understood in terms of a weakly nonlinear limit cycle affected by random noise. In contrast to ad-hoc `toy models' for the solar cycle, this leads to a generic normal-form model, whose parameters are all constrained by observations. The model reproduces the characteristics of the variable solar activity on time scales between decades and millennia, including the occurrence and statistics of extended periods of very low activity (grand minima). Comparison with results obtained with a Babcock-Leighton-type dynamo model confirms the validity of the normal-mode approach.
background contribution method result interpretation main claim
| # | sentence | role | the authors' own work | states the main conclusion | strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| s0 | The level of solar magnetic activity, as exemplified by the number of sunspots and by energetic events in the corona, varies on a wide range of time scales. | background 1.00 | 0.10 | 0.02 | asserted 1.00 |
| s1 | Most prominent is the 11-year solar cycle, which is significantly modulated on longer time scales. | background 1.00 | 0.10 | 0.04 | asserted 1.00 |
| s2 | Drawing from dynamo theory together with empirical results of past solar activity and of similar phenomena on solar-like stars, we show that the variability of the solar cycle can be essentially understood in terms of a weakly nonlinear limit cycle affected by random noise. | contribution 0.47 | 0.92 | 0.87 | asserted 1.00 |
| s3 | In contrast to ad-hoc `toy models' for the solar cycle, this leads to a generic normal-form model, whose parameters are all constrained by observations. | contribution 0.77 | 0.84 | 0.10 | asserted 1.00 |
| s4 | The model reproduces the characteristics of the variable solar activity on time scales between decades and millennia, including the occurrence and statistics of extended periods of very low activity (grand minima). | result 1.00 | 0.90 | 0.26 | asserted 1.00 |
| s5 | Comparison with results obtained with a Babcock-Leighton-type dynamo model confirms the validity of the normal-mode approach. | result 0.77 | 0.78 | 0.10 | asserted 0.99 |
What was examined, and what was not
- arXiv listing abstract v1
- full text
- figures and tables
- references and citing sentences
- relations to other papers
- P abstract
- S sections
- T body sentences
- C citations
- R cross-paper relations
The paper
Original abstract
The level of solar magnetic activity, as exemplified by the number of sunspots and by energetic events in the corona, varies on a wide range of time scales. Most prominent is the 11-year solar cycle, which is significantly modulated on longer time scales. Drawing from dynamo theory together with empirical results of past solar activity and of similar phenomena on solar-like stars, we show that the variability of the solar cycle can be essentially understood in terms of a weakly nonlinear limit cycle affected by random noise. In contrast to ad-hoc `toy models' for the solar cycle, this leads to a generic normal-form model, whose parameters are all constrained by observations. The model reproduces the characteristics of the variable solar activity on time scales between decades and millennia, including the occurrence and statistics of extended periods of very low activity (grand minima). Comparison with results obtained with a Babcock-Leighton-type dynamo model confirms the validity of the normal-mode approach.
Human review
References
How the literature uses it
5 arXiv papers cite this in 5 sentences
Papers citing it · 2 sentences without a confident label
Contests it 1 paper
-
This is contrary to assumptions of the Babcock-Leighton dynamo scenario [ref] .
The magnetic helicity density patterns from non-axisymmetric solar dynamo · Discussion and conclusions · contest 0.74
Cites it as support 1 paper
-
[ref] modelled the overall power spectrum of solar activity using a generic normal form model for a noisy and weakly nonlinear limit cycle, and [ref] showed that the long-term modulations beyond the 11-year cycle are consistent with the realization noise, thus casting doubt whether secular and supersecular modulations are connected to the intrinsic periodicities of the solar dynamo.
Long-term modulation of solar cycles · dynamo models for the long-term variation · 0.98
Cites it as background 1 paper
-
While such a “hard” synchronization of the basic Hale cycle with planetary tidal forces was advocated by only a few researchers, much more interest was dedicated to various kinds of “soft” planetary modulation of that cycle (whose length is usually believed to be determined by intrinsic solar parameters [ref] ).
On the synchronizability of Tayler-Spruit and Babcock-Leighton type dynamos · Introduction · 0.96
Discussion
Know something about this paper? Leave a comment, or highlight any passage above to comment on it.