The Sun's interior structure and dynamics, and the solar cycle

TL;DR

This paper reviews how helioseismology reveals the Sun's internal structure and dynamics, especially how they vary with the solar cycle, informing models of the solar dynamo and magnetic field generation.

Contribution

It discusses the effects of magnetic fields on solar acoustic oscillations and how their observations can be inverted to study interior variations over the solar cycle.

Findings

Variations in solar interior structure correlate with the solar cycle.

Helioseismology can infer magnetic and dynamic changes inside the Sun.

Insights support models of the solar dynamo and magnetic field generation.

Abstract

The Sun's internal structure and dynamics can be studied with helioseismology, which uses the Sun's natural acoustic oscillations to build up a profile of the solar interior. We discuss how solar acoustic oscillations are affected by the Sun's magnetic field. Careful observations of these effects can be inverted to determine the variations in the structure and dynamics of the Sun's interior as the solar cycle progresses. Observed variations in the structure and dynamics can then be used to inform models of the solar dynamo, which are crucial to our understanding of how the Sun's magnetic field is generated and maintained.