Poster Abstracts

Name/Affiliation:  Manfred Kueker (Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam)

Title:  Meridional flows and their role in stellar differential rotation and dynamos

Abstract:
The current flux transport dynamo models of the solar activity cycle depend critically on the meridional flow. This slow, large-scale motion pattern has proven hard to observe even on the Sun and is largely unknown for stars. Mean field models reproduce the solar differential rotation remarkably well and their predictions for the lower main sequence are in good agreement with observations, especially recent data from the Kepler spacecraft. We discuss the role of the meridional flow in stellar rotation models, the predictions made by these models for low mass main sequence stars and giants, and the implications for stellar dynamo models.