Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2015
The magnetic field is effectively frozen into the ionized gas in the Sun and it is therefore necessary first to describe the motion in the convective zone. Large scale motion in giant cells is strongly affected by Coriolis forces, giving a radial shear in the angular velocity, while the interaction of convection and rotation leads to the equatorial acceleration. Many hydromagnetic dynamo mechanisms have been proposed in the last few years. In particular, meridional fields can be generated from azimuthal fields owing to a preferred sense of helicity in the motion Such regeneration is included in Leighton's phenomenological model, which reproduces many features of the solar cycle. More detailed models will have to treat the concentration of magnetic flux into ropes by individual convection cells.