Turbulent magnetic Prandtl numbers obtained with MHD Taylor-Couette flow experiments

The stability problem of MHD Taylor-Couette flows with toroidal magnetic fields is considered in dependence on the magnetic Prandtl number. Only the most uniform (but not current-free) field with B\_in = B\_out has been considered. For high enough Hartmann numbers the toroidal field is always unstable. Rigid rotation, however, stabilizes the magnetic (kink-)instability. The axial current which drives the instability is reduced by the electromotive force induced by the instability itself. Numerical simulations are presented to probe this effect as a possibility to measure the turbulent conductivity in a laboratory. It is shown numerically that in a sodium experiment (without rotation) an eddy diffusivity 4 times the molecular diffusivity appears resulting in a potential difference of ~34 mV/m. If the cylinders are rotating then also the eddy viscosity can be measured. Nonlinear simulations of the instability lead to a turbulent magnetic Prandtl number of 2.1 for a molecular magnetic Prandtl number of 0.01. The trend goes to higher values for smaller Pm.