Solar and stellar activity cycles

de Peter R. Wilson

How do you predict the parameters of future solar cycles and estimate their terrestrial effects? What is the role of dynamo theory in the cyclic activity of the Sun and similar stars? And what are the implications of chaos theory for stellar cycles? This book offers a unique survey of our knowledge of cyclic activity for the Sun and extends and links this to cycles in other stars. This authoritative reference provides a valuable review of our basic knowledge of the Sun, of solar activity cycles and of stellar activity cycles in general. It shows the importance of reliable predictions of future solar cycles, and carefully explains the methods currently used to determine the details of these (with special reference to the maximum of Cycle 22). Some of the latest research into solar cycles is clearly presented, including helioseismology, observations of the extended activity cycle and the polar field reversals and theoretical contributions from dynamo theory and chaos theory. For graduate students and researchers, this monograph provides a much-needed synthesis of our understanding of activity cycles in the Sun and other stars.