Related papers: Numerical simulations of turbulent dynamos
In turbulent dynamos the production of large-scale magnetic fields is accompanied by a separation of magnetic helicity in scale. The large- and small-scale parts increase in magnitude. The small-scale part can eventually work against the…
We supplement the mean field dynamo growth equation with the total magnetic helicity evolution equation. This provides an explicitly time dependent model for alpha quenching in dynamo theory. For dynamos without shear, this approach…
The evolution of magnetic fields is studied using simulations of forced helical turbulence with strong imposed shear. After some initial exponential growth, the magnetic field develops a large scale travelling wave pattern. The resulting…
Magnetic helicity is nearly conserved and its evolution equation provides a dynamical feedback on the alpha effect that is distinct from the conventional algebraic alpha quenching. The seriousness of this dynamical alpha quenching is…
Several one and two dimensional mean field models are analyzed where the effects of current helicity fluxes and boundaries are included within the framework of the dynamical quenching model. In contrast to the case with periodic boundary…
A numerical model of isotropic homogeneous turbulence with helical forcing is investigated. The resulting flow, which is essentially the prototype of the alpha^2 dynamo of mean-field dynamo theory, produces strong dynamo action with an…
The well known mean-field model of a turbulence driven dynamo is reviewed in relation to Laboratory experiments in which a turbulent cascade is created by a pair of large rotors. It is argued that in such experiments the alpha-effect,…
The small-scale magnetic helicity produced as a by-product of the large-scale dynamo is believed to play a major role in dynamo saturation. In a mean-field model the generation of small-scale magnetic helicity can be modelled by using the…
We construct a magnetic helicity conserving dynamo theory which incorporates a calculated magnetic helicity current. In this model the fluid helicity plays a small role in large scale magnetic field generation. Instead, the dynamo process…
At large magnetic Reynolds numbers, magnetic helicity evolution plays an important role in astrophysical large-scale dynamos. The recognition of this fact led to the development of the dynamical alpha quenching formalism, which predicts…
We present a two-scale approximation for the dynamics of a nonlinear $\alpha^2$ dynamo. Solutions of the resulting nonlinear equations agree with the numerical simulations of Brandenburg (2001), and show that $\alpha$ is quenched by the…
Several recent advances in turbulent dynamo theory are reviewed. High resolution simulations of small-scale and large-scale dynamo action in periodic domains are compared with each other and contrasted with similar results at low magnetic…
Three closely related stumbling blocks of solar mean field dynamo theory are discussed: how dominant are the small scale fields, how is the alpha effect quenched, and whether magnetic and current helicity fluxes alleviate the quenching? It…
Calculations for mean field dynamo models (in both full spheres and spherical shells), with both algebraic and dynamic $\alpha$--quenchings, show qualitative as well as quantitative differences and similarities in the dynamical behaviour of…
It is shown that ambipolar diffusion as a toy nonlinearity leads to very similar behaviour of large scale turbulent dynamos as full MHD. This is demonstrated using both direct simulations in a periodic box and a closure model for the…
The emergence of a large scale magnetic field from randomly forced isotropic strongly helical flows is discussed in terms of the inverse cascade of magnetic helicity and the alpha-effect. In simulations of such flows the maximum field…
Magnetic field generation on scales large compared with the scale of the turbulent eddies is known to be possible via the so-called $\alpha$ effect when the turbulence is helical and if the domain is large enough for the $\alpha$ effect to…
Much work on turbulent three-dimensional dynamos has been done using triply periodic domains, in which there are no magnetic helicity fluxes. Here we present simulations where the turbulent intensity is still nearly homogeneous, but now…
Large scale dynamos produce small scale current helicity as a waste product that quenches the large scale dynamo process (alpha effect). This quenching can be catastrophic (i.e.intensify with magnetic Reynolds number) unless one has fluxes…
Many astrophysical bodies harbor magnetic fields that are thought to be sustained by a dynamo process. However, it has been argued that the production of large-scale magnetic fields by mean-field dynamo action is strongly suppressed at…