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Magnetic Diffusivity (magnetic + diffusivity)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Physics and Astronomy100%

Selected Abstracts

A novel type of intermittency in a non-linear dynamo in a compressible flow

MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 1 2009
Erico L. Rempel
ABSTRACT The transition to an intermittent mean-field dynamo is studied using numerical simulations of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence driven by a helical forcing. The low-Prandtl number regime is investigated by keeping the kinematic viscosity fixed while the magnetic diffusivity is varied. Just below the critical parameter for the onset of dynamo action, a transient mean field with low magnetic energy is observed. After the transition to a sustained dynamo, the system is shown to evolve through different types of intermittency until a large-scale coherent field with small-scale turbulent fluctuations is formed. Prior to this coherent field stage, a new type of intermittency is detected, where the magnetic field randomly alternates between phases of coherent and incoherent large-scale spatial structures. The relevance of these findings to the understanding of the physics of mean-field dynamo and the physical mechanisms behind intermittent behaviour observed in stellar magnetic field variability are discussed. [source]

Fluctuation dynamo based on magnetic reconnections

ASTRONOMISCHE NACHRICHTEN, Issue 1 2010
A.W. Baggaley
Abstract We develop a new model of the fluctuation dynamo in which the magnetic field is confined to thin flux ropes advected by a multi-scale flow which models turbulence. Magnetic dissipation occurs only via reconnections of flux ropes. The model is particularly suitable for rarefied plasma, such as the solar corona or galactic halos. We investigate the kinetic energy release into heat, mediated by dynamo action, both in our model and by solving the induction equation with the same flow. We find that the flux rope dynamo is more than an order of magnitude more efficient at converting mechanical energy into heat. The probability density of the magnetic energy released during reconnections has a power-law form with the slope ,3, consistent with the solar corona heating by nanoflares. We also present a nonlinear extension of the model. This shows that a plausible saturation mechanism of the fluctuation dynamo is the suppression of turbulent magnetic diffusivity, due to suppression of random stretching at the location of the flux ropes. We confirm that the probability distribution function of the magnetic line curvature has a power-law form suggested by Schekochihin et al. (2002c). We argue, however, using our results that this does not imply a persistent folded structure of magnetic field, at least in the nonlinear stage (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]

Equatorial magnetic helicity flux in simulations with different gauges

ASTRONOMISCHE NACHRICHTEN, Issue 1 2010
D. Mitra
Abstract We use direct numerical simulations of forced MHD turbulence with a forcing function that produces two different signs of kinetic helicity in the upper and lower parts of the domain. We show that the mean flux of magnetic helicity from the small-scale field between the two parts of the domain can be described by a Fickian diffusion law with a diffusion coefficient that is approximately independent of the magnetic Reynolds number and about one third of the estimated turbulent magnetic diffusivity. The data suggest that the turbulent diffusive magnetic helicity flux can only be expected to alleviate catastrophic quenching at Reynolds numbers of more than several thousands. We further calculate the magnetic helicity density and its flux in the domain for three different gauges. We consider the Weyl gauge, in which the electrostatic potential vanishes, the pseudo-Lorenz gauge, where the speed of light is replaced by the sound speed, and the ,resistive gauge' in which the Laplacian of the magnetic vector potential acts as a resistive term. We find that, in the statistically steady state, the time-averaged magnetic helicity density and the magnetic helicity flux are the same in all three gauges (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]

Do mean-field dynamos in nonrotating turbulent shear-flows exist?

ASTRONOMISCHE NACHRICHTEN, Issue 4 2006
G. Rüdiger
Abstract A plane-shear flow in a fluid with forced turbulence is considered. If the fluid is electrically-conducting then a mean electromotive force (EMF) results even without basic rotation and the magnetic diffusivity becomes a highly anisotropic tensor. It is checked whether in this case self-excitation of a large-scale magnetic field is possible (so-called W, × J, -dynamo) and the answer is NO. The calculations reveal the cross-stream components of the EMF perpendicular to the mean current having the wrong signs, at least for small magnetic Prandtl numbers. After our results numerical simulations with magnetic Prandtl number of about unity have only a restricted meaning as the Prandtl number dependence of the diffusivity tensor is rather strong. If, on the other hand, the turbulence field is strati.ed in the vertical direction then a dynamo-active , -effect is produced. The critical magnetic Reynolds number for such a self-excitation in a simple shear flow is slightly above 10 like for the other , but much more complicated , flow patterns used in existing dynamo experiments with liquid sodium or gallium. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]