  This article reviews some of the leading results obtained in solar dynamo
physics by using temporal oscillator models as a tool to interpret
observational data and dynamo model predictions. We discuss how solar
observational data such as the sunspot number is used to infer the leading
quantities responsible for the solar variability during the last few centuries.
Moreover, we discuss the advantages and difficulties of using inversion methods
(or backward methods) over forward methods to interpret the solar dynamo data.
We argue that this approach could help us to have a better insight about the
leading physical processes responsible for solar dynamo, in a similar manner as
helioseismology has helped to achieve a better insight on the thermodynamic
structure and flow dynamics in the Sun's interior.
