Magnetic cycles in global large-eddy simulations of solar convection

We report on a global magnetohydrodynamical simulation of the solar convection zone, which succeeds in generating a large-scale axisymmetric magnetic component, antisymmetric about the equatorial plane and undergoing regular polarity reversals on decadal timescales. We focus on a specific simulation run covering 255 years, during which 8 polarity reversals are observed, with a mean period of 30 years. Time–latitude slices of the zonally averaged toroidal magnetic component at the base of the convecting envelope show a well-organized toroidal flux system building up in each solar hemisphere, peaking at mid-latitudes and migrating toward the equator in the course of each cycle, in remarkable agreement with inferences based on the sunspot butterfly diagram. The simulation also produces a large-scale dipole moment, varying in phase with the internal toroidal component, suggesting that the simulation may be operating as what is known in mean-field theory as an αΩ dynamo.