Aspects of the dynamics underlying solar and stellar dynamo models

Abstract

Observations of the Sun and solar-type stars continue to reveal phenomena whose understanding is very likely to require a nonlinear framework. Here we shall concentrate on two such phenomena, namely the grand minima type behaviour observed in the Sun and solar-type stars and the recent dynamical variations of the differential rotation in the solar convection zone, deduced from the helioseismic observations, and discuss how their explanations have recently motivated the development/employment of novel ideas from nonlinear dynamics.