Related papers: Resolution of an ambiguity in dynamo theory and it…
Standard magnetohydrodynamic theories, such as the mean field dynamo theory, have been criticized when the back reaction of the magnetic field on turbulent motions is neglected. For the dynamo, this back reaction has been argued to suppress…
Some recent results and open issues in magnetic dynamo theory are addressed. The distinction between small-scale and mean-field dynamo (MFD) action in forced turbulent flows is emphasized. Though useful, the MFD has been controversial. This…
Mean field dynamo theory is a leading candidate to explain the observed large scale magnetic fields of galaxies and stars. However, controversy arises over the extent of premature quenching by the backreaction of the growing field. We…
The emergence of large-scale magnetic fields observed in the diffuse interstellar medium is explained by a turbulent dynamo. The underlying transport coefficients have previously been extracted from numerical simulations. So far, this was…
Two different approaches to the Roberts dynamo problem are considered. Firstly, the equations governing the magnetic field are specified to both harmonic and subharmonic solutions and reduced to matrix eigenvalue problems, which are solved…
The turbulent dynamo effect, which describes the generation of magnetic fields in astrophysical objects, is described by the dynamo equation. This, in the kinematic (linear) approximation gives an unbounded exponential growth of the long…
We study an example of instability in presence of a multiplicative noise, namely the spontaneous generation of a magnetic field in a turbulent medium. This so-called turbulent dynamo problem remains challenging, experimentally and…
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…
We present a self-consistent mean field theory of the dynamo in 3D and turbulent diffusion in 2D in weakly ionized gas. We find that in 3D, the backreaction does not alter the beta effect while it suppresses the alpha effect when the…
The principle of the Karlsruhe dynamo experiment is closely related to that of the Roberts dynamo working with a simple fluid flow which is, with respect to proper Cartesian co-ordinates x, y and z, periodic in x and y and independent of z.…
To explain the large-scale magnetic field of the Sun and other bodies, mean-field dynamo theory is commonly applied where one solves the averaged equations for the mean magnetic field. However, the standard approach breaks down when the…
The buildup of small-scale magnetic helicity which accompanies the oppositely signed growth on large scales is central to conventional dynamical quenching theories of mean-field dynamos. However, the conventional formalism presumes…
In systems where the standard $\alpha$ effect is inoperative, one often explains the existence of mean magnetic fields by invoking the `incoherent $\alpha$ effect', which appeals to fluctuations of the mean kinetic helicity at a mesoscale.…
This article reproduces the Karl Schwarzschild lecture 2013. Some of the basic ideas of electrodynamics and magnetohydrodynamics of mean fields in turbulently moving conducting fluids are explained. It is stressed that the connection of the…
Solar, stellar and galactic large-scale magnetic fields are originated due to a combined action of non-uniform (differential) rotation and helical motions of plasma via mean-field dynamos. Usually, nonlinear mean-field dynamo theories take…
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…
Using direct simulations, weakly nonlinear theory and nonlinear mean-field theory, it is shown that the quenched velocity field of a saturated nonlinear dynamo can itself act as a kinematic dynamo. The flow is driven by a forcing function…
We generalize the mean field magnetic dynamo to include local evolution of the mean vorticity in addition to the mean magnetic field. The coupled equations exhibit a general mean field dynamo instability that enables the transfer of…
We give a short introduction to the subject and review advances in understanding the basic ingredients of the mean-field dynamo theory. The discussion includes the recent analytic and numerical work in developments for the mean…
The effect on dynamo action of an anisotropic electrical conductivity conjugated to an anisotropic magnetic permeability is considered. Not only is the dynamo fully axisymmetric, but it requires only a simple differential rotation, which…