scholarly journals The onset of turbulent rotating dynamos at the low magnetic Prandtl number limit

2017 ◽  
Vol 822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kannabiran Seshasayanan ◽  
Vassilios Dallas ◽  
Alexandros Alexakis
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Prandtl Number ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Injection Rate ◽  
Magnetic Reynolds Number ◽  
Strong Decrease ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Turbulent Fluctuations ◽  
Rotation Rates ◽  
Magnetic Prandtl Number

We demonstrate that the critical magnetic Reynolds number $Rm_{c}$ for a turbulent non-helical dynamo in the limit of low magnetic Prandtl number $Pm$ (i.e. $Pm=Rm/Re\ll 1$) can be significantly reduced if the flow is subjected to global rotation. Even for moderate rotation rates the required energy injection rate can be reduced by a factor of more than $10^{3}$. This strong decrease in the onset is attributed to the transfer of energy to the large scales, forming a large-scale condensate, and the reduction in the turbulent fluctuations that cause the flow to have a much larger cutoff length scale than in a non-rotating flow of the same Reynolds number. The dynamo thus behaves as if it is driven just by the large scales that act as a laminar flow (i.e. it behaves as a high $Pm$ dynamo) even though the actual Reynolds number is much higher than the magnetic Reynolds number (i.e. low $Pm$). Our finding thus points to a new paradigm for the design of new experiments on liquid metal dynamos.

scholarly journals Azimuthal magnetorotational instability with super-rotation

2018 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Rüdiger ◽  
M. Schultz ◽  
M. Gellert ◽  
F. Stefani
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Prandtl Number ◽  
Numerical Solutions ◽  
Hartmann Number ◽  
Outer Cylinder ◽  
Magnetic Reynolds Number ◽  
Neutral Stability ◽  
Magnetorotational Instability ◽  
Magnetic Prandtl Number ◽  
The Stability

It is demonstrated that the azimuthal magnetorotational instability (AMRI) also works with radially increasing rotation rates contrary to the standard magnetorotational instability for axial fields which requires negative shear. The stability against non-axisymmetric perturbations of a conducting Taylor–Couette flow with positive shear under the influence of a toroidal magnetic field is considered if the background field between the cylinders is current free. For small magnetic Prandtl number $Pm\rightarrow 0$ the curves of neutral stability converge in the (Hartmann number,Reynolds number) plane approximating the stability curve obtained in the inductionless limit $Pm=0$. The numerical solutions for $Pm=0$ indicate the existence of a lower limit of the shear rate. For large $Pm$ the curves scale with the magnetic Reynolds number of the outer cylinder but the flow is always stable for magnetic Prandtl number unity as is typical for double-diffusive instabilities. We are particularly interested to know the minimum Hartmann number for neutral stability. For models with resting or almost resting inner cylinder and with perfectly conducting cylinder material the minimum Hartmann number occurs for a radius ratio of $r_{\text{in}}=0.9$. The corresponding critical Reynolds numbers are smaller than $10^{4}$.

Turbulent dynamo action at low magnetic Reynolds number

1970 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 435-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. K. Moffatt
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Isotropic Turbulence ◽  
Magnetic Energy ◽  
Magnetic Reynolds Number ◽  
Dynamo Action ◽  
Ohmic Dissipation ◽  
Magnetic Energy Density ◽  
Magnetic Diffusivity

The effect of turbulence on a magnetic field whose length-scale L is initially large compared with the scale l of the turbulence is considered. There are no external sources for the field, and in the absence of turbulence it decays by ohmic dissipation. It is assumed that the magnetic Reynolds number Rm = u0l/λ (where u0 is the root-mean-square velocity and λ the magnetic diffusivity) is small. It is shown that to lowest order in the small quantities l/L and Rm, isotropic turbulence has no effect on the large-scale field; but that turbulence that lacks reflexional symmetry is capable of amplifying Fourier components of the field on length scales of order Rm−2l and greater. In the case of turbulence whose statistical properties are invariant under rotation of the axes of reference, but not under reflexions in a point, it is shown that the magnetic energy density of a magnetic field which is initially a homogeneous random function of position with a particularly simple spectrum ultimately increases as t−½exp (α2t/2λ3) where α(= O(u02l)) is a certain linear functional of the spectrum tensor of the turbulence. An analogous result is obtained for an initially localized field.

scholarly journals Turbulent viscosity and magnetic Prandtl number from simulations of isotropically forced turbulence

2020 ◽  
Vol 636 ◽  
pp. A93 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Käpylä ◽  
M. Rheinhardt ◽  
A. Brandenburg ◽  
M. J. Käpylä
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Prandtl Number ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Turbulent Viscosity ◽  
Scale Dependence ◽  
Scale Separation ◽  
Separation Ratio ◽  
Magnetic Prandtl Number ◽  
Magnetic Diffusivity ◽  
Forced Turbulence

Context. Turbulent diffusion of large-scale flows and magnetic fields plays a major role in many astrophysical systems, such as stellar convection zones and accretion discs. Aims. Our goal is to compute turbulent viscosity and magnetic diffusivity which are relevant for diffusing large-scale flows and magnetic fields, respectively. We also aim to compute their ratio, which is the turbulent magnetic Prandtl number, Pmt, for isotropically forced homogeneous turbulence. Methods. We used simulations of forced turbulence in fully periodic cubes composed of isothermal gas with an imposed large-scale sinusoidal shear flow. Turbulent viscosity was computed either from the resulting Reynolds stress or from the decay rate of the large-scale flow. Turbulent magnetic diffusivity was computed using the test-field method for a microphysical magnetic Prandtl number of unity. The scale dependence of the coefficients was studied by varying the wavenumber of the imposed sinusoidal shear and test fields. Results. We find that turbulent viscosity and magnetic diffusivity are in general of the same order of magnitude. Furthermore, the turbulent viscosity depends on the fluid Reynolds number (Re) and scale separation ratio of turbulence. The scale dependence of the turbulent viscosity is found to be well approximated by a Lorentzian. These results are similar to those obtained earlier for the turbulent magnetic diffusivity. The results for the turbulent transport coefficients appear to converge at sufficiently high values of Re and the scale separation ratio. However, a weak trend is found even at the largest values of Re, suggesting that the turbulence is not in the fully developed regime. The turbulent magnetic Prandtl number converges to a value that is slightly below unity for large Re. For small Re we find values between 0.5 and 0.6 but the data are insufficient to draw conclusions regarding asymptotics. We demonstrate that our results are independent of the correlation time of the forcing function. Conclusions. The turbulent magnetic diffusivity is, in general, consistently higher than the turbulent viscosity, which is in qualitative agreement with analytic theories. However, the actual value of Pmt found from the simulations (≈0.9−0.95) at large Re and large scale separation ratio is higher than any of the analytic predictions (0.4−0.8).

scholarly journals Azimuthal diffusion of the large-scale-circulation plane, and absence of significant non-Boussinesq effects, in turbulent convection near the ultimate-state transition

2016 ◽  
Vol 791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaozhou He ◽  
Eberhard Bodenschatz ◽  
Guenter Ahlers
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Prandtl Number ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Reynolds Numbers ◽  
Cylindrical Sample ◽  
Ultimate State ◽  
Large Scale Circulation ◽  
Classical State ◽  
Rayleigh Benard Convection ◽  
Rayleigh Benard

We present measurements of the orientation ${\it\theta}_{0}$ and temperature amplitude ${\it\delta}$ of the large-scale circulation in a cylindrical sample of turbulent Rayleigh–Bénard convection (RBC) with aspect ratio ${\it\Gamma}\equiv D/L=1.00$ ($D$ and $L$ are the diameter and height respectively) and for the Prandtl number $Pr\simeq 0.8$. The results for ${\it\theta}_{0}$ revealed a preferred orientation with up-flow in the west, consistent with a broken azimuthal invariance due to the Earth’s Coriolis force (see Brown & Ahlers (Phys. Fluids, vol. 18, 2006, 125108)). They yielded the azimuthal diffusivity $D_{{\it\theta}}$ and a corresponding Reynolds number $Re_{{\it\theta}}$ for Rayleigh numbers over the range $2\times 10^{12}\lesssim Ra\lesssim 1.5\times 10^{14}$. In the classical state ($Ra\lesssim 2\times 10^{13}$) the results were consistent with the measurements by Brown & Ahlers (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 568, 2006, pp. 351–386) for $Ra\lesssim 10^{11}$ and $Pr=4.38$, which gave $Re_{{\it\theta}}\propto Ra^{0.28}$, and with the Prandtl-number dependence $Re_{{\it\theta}}\propto Pr^{-1.2}$ as found previously also for the velocity-fluctuation Reynolds number $Re_{V}$ (He et al., New J. Phys., vol. 17, 2015, 063028). At larger $Ra$ the data for $Re_{{\it\theta}}(Ra)$ revealed a transition to a new state, known as the ‘ultimate’ state, which was first seen in the Nusselt number $Nu(Ra)$ and in $Re_{V}(Ra)$ at $Ra_{1}^{\ast }\simeq 2\times 10^{13}$ and $Ra_{2}^{\ast }\simeq 8\times 10^{13}$. In the ultimate state we found $Re_{{\it\theta}}\propto Ra^{0.40\pm 0.03}$. Recently, Skrbek & Urban (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 785, 2015, pp. 270–282) claimed that non-Oberbeck–Boussinesq effects on the Nusselt and Reynolds numbers of turbulent RBC may have been interpreted erroneously as a transition to a new state. We demonstrate that their reasoning is incorrect and that the transition observed in the Göttingen experiments and discussed in the present paper is indeed to a new state of RBC referred to as ‘ultimate’.

scholarly journals Synthesis of Small and Large Scale Dynamos

2002 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 739-741
Author(s):  
Kandaswamy Subramanian
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Magnetic Reynolds Number ◽  
Mhd Equations ◽  
Magnetic Helicity ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Quantum Mechanical ◽  
Closure Model ◽  
Scale Fluctuation ◽  
Small Scale Fluctuation

AbstractUsing a closure model for the evolution of magnetic correlations, we uncover an interesting plausible saturated state of the small-scale fluctuation dynamo (SSD) and a novel anology between quantum mechanical tunnelling and the generation of large-scale fields. Large scale fields develop via the α-effect, but as magnetic helicity can only change on a resistive timescale, the time it takes to organize the field into large scales increases with magnetic Reynolds number. This is very similar to the results which obtain from simulations using the full MHD equations.

scholarly journals The electromotive force in multi-scale flows at high magnetic Reynolds number

2015 ◽  
Vol 81 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven M. Tobias ◽  
Fausto Cattaneo
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Electromotive Force ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Magnetic Reynolds Number ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Dynamo Theory ◽  
Multi Scale ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Scale Shear

Recent advances in dynamo theory have been made by examining the competition between small- and large-scale dynamos at high magnetic Reynolds number $\mathit{Rm}$. Small-scale dynamos rely on the presence of chaotic stretching whilst the generation of large-scale fields occurs in flows lacking reflectional symmetry via a systematic electromotive force (EMF). In this paper we discuss how the statistics of the EMF (at high $\mathit{Rm}$) depend on the properties of the multi-scale velocity that is generating it. In particular, we determine that different scales of flow have different contributions to the statistics of the EMF, with smaller scales contributing to the mean without increasing the variance. Moreover, we determine when scales in such a flow act independently in their contribution to the EMF. We further examine the role of large-scale shear in modifying the EMF. We conjecture that the distribution of the EMF, and not simply the mean, largely determines the dominant scale of the magnetic field generated by the flow.

scholarly journals The optimal kinematic dynamo driven by steady flows in a sphere

2018 ◽  
Vol 839 ◽  
pp. 1-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Chen ◽  
W. Herreman ◽  
K. Li ◽  
P. W. Livermore ◽  
J. W. Luo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Helical Structure ◽  
Optimization Method ◽  
Global Optimum ◽  
Magnetic Reynolds Number ◽  
Steady Flows ◽  
Dynamo Action ◽  
Kinematic Dynamo ◽  
Scale Optimization

We present a variational optimization method that can identify the most efficient kinematic dynamo in a sphere, where efficiency is based on the value of a magnetic Reynolds number that uses enstrophy to characterize the inductive effects of the fluid flow. In this large-scale optimization, we restrict the flow to be steady and incompressible, and the boundary of the sphere to be no-slip and electrically insulating. We impose these boundary conditions using a Galerkin method in terms of specifically designed vector field bases. We solve iteratively for the flow field and the accompanying magnetic eigenfunction in order to find the minimal critical magnetic Reynolds number $Rm_{c,min}$ for the onset of a dynamo. Although nonlinear, this iteration procedure converges to a single solution and there is no evidence that this is not a global optimum. We find that $Rm_{c,min}=64.45$ is at least three times lower than that of any published example of a spherical kinematic dynamo generated by steady flows, and our optimal dynamo clearly operates above the theoretical lower bounds for dynamo action. The corresponding optimal flow has a spatially localized helical structure in the centre of the sphere, and the dominant components are invariant under rotation by $\unicode[STIX]{x03C0}$.

scholarly journals Hydromagnetic dynamos at the low Ekman and magnetic Prandtl numbers

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ján Šimkanin
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Prandtl Number ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Magnetic Diffusion ◽  
Magnetic Prandtl Number ◽  
Prandtl Numbers ◽  
The Magnetic Field

Abstract Hydromagnetic dynamos are numerically investigated at low Prandtl, Ekman and magnetic Prandtl numbers using the PARODY dynamo code. In all the investigated cases, the generated magnetic fields are dominantly-dipolar. Convection is small-scale and columnar, while the magnetic field maintains its large-scale structure. In this study the generated magnetic field never becomes weak in the polar regions, neither at large magnetic Prandtl numbers (when the magnetic diffusion is weak), nor at low magnetic Prandtl numbers (when the magnetic diffusion is strong), which is a completely different situation to that observed in previous studies. As magnetic fields never become weak in the polar regions, then the magnetic field is always regenerated in the tangent cylinder. At both values of the magnetic Prandtl number, strong polar magnetic upwellings and weaker equatorial upwellings are observed. An occurrence of polar magnetic upwellings is coupled with a regenaration of magnetic fields inside the tangent cylinder and then with a not weakened intensity of magnetic fields in the polar regions. These new results indicate that inertia and viscosity are probably negligible at low Ekman numbers.

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