No Evidence for Absence of Solar Dynamo Synchronization

Abstract

The old question of whether the solar dynamo is synchronized by the tidal forces of the orbiting planets has recently received renewed interest, both from the viewpoint of historical data analysis and in terms of theoretical and numerical modeling. We aim to contribute to the solution of this longstanding puzzle by analyzing cosmogenic radionuclide data from the last millennium. We reconsider a recent time series of 14C-inferred sunspot data and compare the resulting cycle minima and maxima with the corresponding conventional series down to 1610 A.D., enhanced by Schove’s data before that time. We find that, despite recent claims to the contrary, the 14C-inferred sunspot data are well compatible with a synchronized solar dynamo, exhibiting a relatively phase-stable period of 11.07 years, which points to a synchronizing role of the spring tides of the Venus-Earth-Jupiter system.