The Sunspot Cycle and Solar Magnetic Fields. II. The Interaction of Flux Tubes with the Convection Zone

Abstract

Mechanisms of interaction between flux tubes or ropes and the convection zone are examined insofar as they are relevant to the sunspot cycle. These include floating, transport, and the penetration of gas from outside the tubes. It is found that all previous studies contain one or more major errors of physics which render their conclusions invalid. The errors include invariably the assumption that Archimedes' principle is applicable to flux ropes, that gas entry can be disregarded, and usually that floating criteria depend solely or primarily on local phenomena. Some of the results presented here are explanations of (i) the transport of flux tubes by the slow observed poleward motions and the even slower systems which carry extensions of these tubes downwards to depths of ~ 150 Mm and then equatorwards; (ii) their magnetic field strengths ( ~ 104 G at a depth 10 Mm to (6-12) x 104 G at ~ 150 Mm); and (iii) the amplitudes of the torsional oscillation. Taken in conjunction with Part I, where the mechanism of polar field reversal is described and the variation of the phase of the torsional oscillation explained, all major cycle observations are accounted for in what turns out to be a new type of dynamo mechanism.