Evaluating solar-like behavior in turbulent alpha and Babcock–Leighton mechanisms using non-kinematic nonlinear flux-transport solar dynamos

Abstract

Abstract In this study, we simulate 30,000 years of solar activity using turbulent-alpha (TA) and Babcock–Leighton (BL) mechanisms in a non-kinematic, nonlinear mean field flux-transport solar dynamo model. We evaluate their performances against observational data from proxies, like $$^{14}$$ 14 C, and direct solar observations. Both the TA and BL dynamos generate Schwabe-like variations, with the TA dynamo also generating periods that can be related to the QBOs and the Gleissberg cycle. The TA dynamo spends 13.3% (12.2%) of its time in a grand minimum (maximum) state, closely match the historical solar activity reconstructions from proxy records, while the BL dynamo underperforms. For the TA dynamo, the Schwabe cycle length variations during grand minima and the latitudinal and radial dependencies of the amplitude of variations both in Schwabe and QBO timescales align well with $$^{14}$$ 14 C data and solar observations, whereas the BL dynamo fails to reproduce these features.

Keywords

• Grand minimum
• comparative analysis
• solar dynamos