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Effects of fluctuational dissipative perturbations on the Earth's polar motion due to random components of the centrifugal potential are studied using a numerical-analytical approach. A combined model for the polar fluctuations is used to take into account stochastic components of the polar tides. Fluctuations excited at frequencies close to the Chandler frequency are analyzed using observations of sea level and the gravitional acceleration. Equations describing the correlation characteristics of the polar motions are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some possibilities for the reconnection of magnetic-field lines of solar filaments that approach when the photospheric polarity inversion lines change their positions, are discussed. The interaction between filaments depends on their internal properties, which are determined by the filament chirality, or the sign of the helicity of the filament magnetic field. In quadrupolar magnetic configurations, filaments with the same chirality can exchange their halves. Filaments with opposite chirality rupture after the reconnection of the polarity inversion lines, since the two fragments of the different filaments cannot be connected continuously. The morphology and connectivity of the filaments are analyzed using daily H α filtergrams obtained over the period of maximum activity of the 23rd solar cycle. Examples of alterations of the filament connectivity occuring during the evolution of photospheric fields are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The asymmetry of the magnetic field of the Sun and its manifestation in the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) are studied. The dominant magnetic polarity of the radial component of the IMF alternates from cycle to cycle, but with an overall systematic dominance of polarity directed toward the Sun. The global asymmetry is also manifest in the component of the IMF perpendicular to the plane of the solar equator. The dominance of positive values of B z together with an appreciable linear trend in the cumulative sum of this quantity is interpreted as a manifestation of a relic solar magnetic field. The strength of this relic magnetic field near the Earth is estimated to be 0.048 ± 0.015 nT, based on the growth of the linear component of the cumulative sum of B z . Time intervals, in which negative values of the B z component of the IMF dominate and enhanced geomagnetic activity is observed, are identified. Our analysis of solar and heliospheric magnetic fields in an integrated representation has enabled us to compare various types of measurements and estimate their stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]