The equatorial asymmetry of a magnetic field

Abstract

Solution of the inverse problem for Parker’s one-dimensional mean-field dynamo model in a thin spherical layer is considered. The method allows the spatial distribution of energy sources, the α- and Ω-effects, to be found provided specified constraints occur on the solution. The highest ratio of the magnetic energies for the Northern and Southern hemispheres is discussed as such a constraint. The method is a modification of the Monte-Carlo technique; it is convenient for parallel computations and based on minimization of the cost function that characterizes the deviation of the model solution properties from the desired ones. The calculations show that the ratio of the energies in the hemispheres may exceed an order of magnitude for both poloidal and toroidal components of the magnetic energy. The ratio depends on the distance of the effective zone of the generation of the magnetic field from the equator and the number of harmonics in the spectrum. The greater this distance is and the higher the number of harmonics is, the stronger the magnetic field asymmetry can be.