Helioseismic Measurements of Differential Rotation and Meridional Flows

Zhao Junwei, junwei@sun.stanford.edu, Stanford University, United States

Abstract
Differential rotation and meridional flows in the solar interior are believed to play an important role in solar dynamo and magnetic field redistribution in the solar surface. A precise determination of the solar interior rotation rate and meridional flow speed is thus very important to help understand the physical processes of magnetic field generation and transportation. Studies of cyclic changes of the solar interior rotation rates and meridional flow speed also help better understand the unusually long solar minimum of Cycle 23. In this talk, I review recent progress in helioseismic measurements of differential rotation and meridional flows in the solar interior, as well as their variations with the solar cycle obtained from both SOHO/MDI and SDO/HMI observations, and discuss the connections between these solar interior properties and the solar magnetism.