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Fast dynamo action in a steady flow

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2006

A. M. Soward
A. M. Soward
Affiliation:
School of Mathematics, The University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK
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Abstract

The existence of fast dynamos caused by steady motion of an electrically conducting fluid is established by consideration of a two-dimensional spatially periodic flow: the velocity, which is independent of the vertical coordinate z, is finite and continuous everywhere but the vorticity is infinite at the X-type stagnation points. A mean-field model is developed using boundary-layer methods valid in the limit of large magnetic Reynolds number R. The magnetic field is confined to sheets, width of order R−½. The mean magnetic field lies and is uniform on horizontal planes: its direction is independent of time but rotates once about the vertical axis over a short distance 2πl, where l−1 = R½β and β is a vertical stretched wavenumber independent of R. Its alternating direction gives it a rope-like structure within the sheets. An α-effect is calculated for the model, whose strength for a given flow is a function of β and R. Two sources of α-effect are isolated whose relative importance depends critically on the size of β. When the vorticity is finite everywhere and β [Lt ] 1, the dynamo is ‘almost’ fast with growth rates of order (ln R)−1. The maximum growth rate ln (ln R)/ln R occurs when, correct to leading order, β is (ln R)−½. The asymptotic results valid for large R compare excellently with Roberts (1972) modal analysis for finite R.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 180 , July 1987 , pp. 267 - 295
Copyright
© 1987 Cambridge University Press

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