| Description |
It is believed that magnetohydrodynamic processes are responsible for producing the solar magnetic field and the associated phenomena. Unfortunately, due to extreme conditions in the solar convection zone realistic direct numerical simulation of magnetohydrodynamics is not possible. However, significant progress can be made by performing simulations in local cartesian geometry and by producing turbulence using a forcing function. By choosing this forcing to be helical and by imposing a large-scale shear in the simulation box, we can easily excite large- and small-scale dynamos when the fluid is sufficiently random. I shall show that this kind of simple setup allows us to understand some basic questions of the solar magnetic field. Later, I shall present some results from rotating global-convection simulations in spherical geometry of the solar convection zone. I shall show that under certain parameter regimes, these solar-like global simulations are successful in reproducing a few basic features about the solar cycle. Features and origin of the differential rotation produced in these simulations will also be discussed.
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