Sunspots or solar active regions are areas of concentrated magnetic fields
on the solar surface that are formed as a result of the buoyant eruption
of magnetic flux tubes from the interior of the Sun. The magnetic fields
within these active regions are known to be twisted. The magnitude and
distribution of the observed twist across the cross-section of the active
region can give us important information about the dynamics of the
underlying flux tube constituting the sunspot. This information, for
example, can be related to how the flux tube interacted with the
surrounding turbulent convection during its rise, or tell us about various
instabilities (such as the kink-instability) that the flux tube may have
been subject to; all these processes leave an imprint on the twist
distribution in the active region magnetic fields.
 
This project will involve an analysis of the observed twist distribution
in solar active regions with the goal of understanding how this
distribution relates to the afore-mentioned processes. Such a study is
important for understanding the dynamics of magnetic flux tubes in stellar
interiors and has implications for the subsequent flaring activity of
twisted active regions.