Global Circulation of the Open Magnetic Flux of the Sun

Abstract

The global circulation of the open magnetic flux of the Sun, the component of the solar magnetic field that opens into the heliosphere, and the consequences of the global circulation were proposed by Fisk and coworkers in the early 2000s. The Parker Solar Probe, on its initial encounters with the Sun, has provided direct confirmation of both the global circulation and the physical mechanism by which the circulation occurs, transport by interchange reconnection between open magnetic flux and large coronal loops. The implications of this confirmation of the global circulation of open magnetic flux and the importance of interchange reconnection is discussed.