Meridional circulation in solar and stellar convection zones

We present a series of 3D nonlinear simulations of solar-like convection, carried out using the Anelastic Spherical Harmonic code, that are designed to isolate those processes that drive and shape meridional circulations (MCs) within stellar convection zones. These simulations have been constructed so as to span the transition between solar-like differential rotation (DR; fast equator/slow poles) and "anti-solar" DR (slow equator/fast poles). Solar-like states of DR, which arise when convection is rotationally constrained, are characterized by a very different convective Reynolds stress (RS) than anti-solar regimes, wherein convection only weakly senses the Coriolis force. We find that the angular momentum transport by convective RS plays a central role in establishing the meridional flow profiles in these simulations. We find that the transition from single-celled to multi-celled MC profiles in strong and weak regimes of rotational constraint is linked to a change in the convective RS, which is a clear demonstration of gyroscopic pumping. Latitudinal thermal variations differ between these different regimes, with those in the solar-like regime conspiring to suppress a single cell of MC, whereas the cool poles and warm equator established in the anti-solar states tend to promote single-celled circulations. Although the convective angular momentum transport becomes radially inward at mid-latitudes in anti-solar regimes, it is the MC that is primarily responsible for establishing a rapidly rotating pole. We conclude with a discussion of how these results relate to the Sun, and suggest that the Sun may lie near the transition between rapidly rotating and slowly rotating regimes.