On the planetary forcing of the Solar dynamo: Evidence from a Lagrangian framework

TL;DR

This study develops a Lagrangian framework and uses spectral analysis to show that planetary motions weakly influence the solar magnetic cycle, challenging the view of the solar dynamo as purely autonomous.

Contribution

It introduces a physically-grounded model demonstrating planetary forcing on the solar dynamo, supported by spectral analysis and a nonlinear dynamo simulation.

Findings

Identification of planetary resonance cycles in sunspot and LOD data

Reproduction of solar cycle features using planetary forcing in a dynamo model

Evidence that the solar dynamo may be synchronized by planetary motion

Abstract

Whether planetary motions influence the solar magnetic cycle has remained an open question due to the lack of a rigorous physical mechanism. Here we develop a Lagrangian framework based on the Virial theorem to show that planetary orbital angular momentum modulates the Sun's rotation through barycentric dynamics, consistent with angular momentum conservation. Using Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) applied to sunspot number (SSN) and terrestrial length-of-day (LOD) records spanning the past 250 years, we identify two non-linear trends plus 11 common pseudo-cycles whose periods match those of planetary resonances (LR$^{*}$). We then demonstrate that a reduced nonlinear $\alpha-\Omega$ dynamo model, forced solely by the summed planetary right ascension RA(t), reproduces both the Schwabe cycle and its multi-decadal envelope, including the Dalton Minimum and the Modern Maximum. These results provide strong evidence, based on a physically-grounded model, that the solar dynamo is weakly forced by planetary motion, suggesting that the solar dynamo, classically viewed as autonomous, may in fact behave as a synchronized system.