Spectral method for matching exterior and interior elliptic problems

A spectral method is described for solving coupled elliptic problems on an interior and an exterior domain. The method is formulated and tested on the two-dimensional interior Poisson and exterior Laplace problems, whose solutions and their normal derivatives are required to be continuous across the interface. A complete basis of homogeneous solutions for the interior and exterior regions, corresponding to all possible Dirichlet boundary values at the interface, are calculated in a preprocessing step. This basis is used to construct the influence matrix which serves to transform the coupled boundary conditions into conditions on the interior problem. Chebyshev approximations are used to represent both the interior solutions and the boundary values. A standard Chebyshev spectral method is used to calculate the interior solutions. The exterior harmonic solutions are calculated as the convolution of the free-space Green's function with a surface density; this surface density is itself the solution to an integral equation which has an analytic solution when the boundary values are given as a Chebyshev expansion. Properties of Chebyshev approximations insure that the basis of exterior harmonic functions represents the external near-boundary solutions uniformly. The method is tested by calculating the electrostatic potential resulting from charge distributions in a rectangle. The resulting influence matrix is well-conditioned and solutions converge exponentially as the resolution is increased. The generalization of this approach to three-dimensional problems is discussed, in particular the magnetohydrodynamic equations in a finite cylindrical domain surrounded by a vacuum

A spherical shell numerical dynamo benchmark with pseudo vacuum magnetic boundary conditions

It is frequently considered that many planetary magnetic fields originate as a result of convection within planetary cores. Buoyancy forces responsible for driving the convection generate a fluid flow that is able to induce magnetic fields; numerous sophisticated computer codes are able to simulate the dynamic behaviour of such systems. This paper reports the results of a community activity aimed at comparing numerical results of several different types of computer codes that are capable of solving the equations of momentum transfer, magnetic field generation and heat transfer in the setting of a spherical shell, namely a sphere containing an inner core. The electrically conducting fluid is incompressible and rapidly rotating and the forcing of the flow is thermal convection under the Boussinesq approximation. We follow the original specifications and results reported in Harder & Hansen to construct a specific benchmark in which the boundaries of the fluid are taken to be impenetrable, non-slip and isothermal, with the added boundary condition for the magnetic field <b>B</b> that the field must be entirely radial there; this type of boundary condition for <b>B</b> is frequently referred to as ‘pseudo-vacuum’. This latter condition should be compared with the more frequently used insulating boundary condition. This benchmark is so-defined in order that computer codes based on local methods, such as finite element, finite volume or finite differences, can handle the boundary condition with ease. The defined benchmark, governed by specific choices of the Roberts, magnetic Rossby, Rayleigh and Ekman numbers, possesses a simple solution that is steady in an azimuthally drifting frame of reference, thus allowing easy comparison among results. Results from a variety of types of code are reported, including codes that are fully spectral (based on spherical harmonic expansions in angular coordinates and polynomial expansions in radius), mixed spectral and finite difference, finite volume, finite element and also a mixed Fourier-finite element code. There is good agreement among codes

Nonlinear dynamo in a short Taylor-Couette setup

It is numerically demonstrated by means of a magnetohydrodynamics code that a short Taylor-Couette setup with a body force can sustain dynamo action. The magnetic threshold is comparable to what is usually obtained in spherical geometries. The linear dynamo is characterized by a rotating equatorial dipole. The nonlinear regime is characterized by fluctuating kinetic and magnetic energies and a tilted dipole whose axial component exhibits aperiodic reversals during the time evolution. These numerical evidences of dynamo action in a short Taylor-Couette setup may be useful for developing an experimental device

Electromagnetic induction in non-uniform domains

Kinematic simulations of the induction equation are carried out for different setups suitable for the von-K\'arm\'an-Sodium (VKS) dynamo experiment. Material properties of the flow driving impellers are considered by means of high conducting and high permeability disks that are present in a cylindrical volume filled with a conducting fluid. Two entirely different numerical codes are mutually validated by showing quantitative agreement on Ohmic decay and kinematic dynamo problems using various configurations and physical parameters. Field geometry and growth rates are strongly modified by the material properties of the disks even if the high permeability/high conductivity material is localized within a quite thin region. In contrast the influence of external boundary conditions remains small. Utilizing a VKS like mean fluid flow and high permeability disks yields a reduction of the critical magnetic Reynolds number for the onset of dynamo action of the simplest non-axisymmetric field mode. However this decrease is not sufficient to become relevant in the VKS experiment. Furthermore, the reduction of Rm_c is essentially influenced by tiny changes in the flow configuration so that the result is not very robust against small modifications of setup and properties of turbulence

Integral equations in MHD: theory and application

The induction equation of kinematic magnetohydrodynamics is mathematically equivalent to a system of integral equations for the magnetic field in the bulk of the fluid and for the electric potential at its boundary. We summarize the recent developments concerning the numerical implementation of this scheme and its applications to various forward and inverse problems in dynamo theory and applied MHD.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure

An Interior Penalty Method with C0C^0 Finite Elements for the Approximation of the Maxwell Equations in Heterogeneous Media: Convergence Analysis with Minimal Regularity

The present paper proposes and analyzes an interior penalty technique using $C^0$-finite elements to solve the Maxwell equations in domains with heterogeneous properties. The convergence analysis for the boundary value problem and the eigenvalue problem is done assuming only minimal regularity in Lipschitz domains. The method is shown to converge for any polynomial degrees and to be spectrally correct.Comment: 36 page

Full sphere hydrodynamic and dynamo benchmarks

Convection in planetary cores can generate fluid flow and magnetic fields, and a number of sophisticated codes exist to simulate the dynamic behaviour of such systems. We report on the first community activity to compare numerical results of computer codes designed to calculate fluid flow within a whole sphere. The flows are incompressible and rapidly rotating and the forcing of the flow is either due to thermal convection or due to moving boundaries. All problems defined have solutions that allow easy comparison, since they are either steady, slowly drifting or perfectly periodic. The first two benchmarks are defined based on uniform internal heating within the sphere under the Boussinesq approximation with boundary conditions that are uniform in temperature and stress-free for the flow. Benchmark 1 is purely hydrodynamic, and has a drifting solution. Benchmark 2 is a magnetohydrodynamic benchmark that can generate oscillatory, purely periodic, flows and magnetic fields. In contrast, Benchmark 3 is a hydrodynamic rotating bubble benchmark using no slip boundary conditions that has a stationary solution. Results from a variety of types of code are reported, including codes that are fully spectral (based on spherical harmonic expansions in angular coordinates and polynomial expansions in radius), mixed spectral and finite difference, finite volume, finite element and also a mixed Fourier–finite element code. There is good agreement between codes. It is found that in Benchmarks 1 and 2, the approximation of a whole sphere problem by a domain that is a spherical shell (a sphere possessing an inner core) does not represent an adequate approximation to the system, since the results differ from whole sphere results

Numerical simulation of the von Kármán sodium dynamo experiment

We present hydrodynamic and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of liquid sodium flows in the von Kármán sodium (VKS) set-up. The counter-rotating impellers made of soft iron that were used in the successful 2006 experiment are represented by means of a pseudo-penalty method. Hydrodynamic simulations are performed at high kinetic Reynolds numbers using a large eddy simulation technique. The results compare well with the experimental data: the flow is laminar and steady or slightly fluctuating at small angular frequencies; small scales fill the bulk and a Kolmogorov-like spectrum is obtained at large angular frequencies. Near the tips of the blades the flow is expelled and takes the form of intense helical vortices. The equatorial shear layer acquires a wavy shape due to three coherent co-rotating radial vortices as observed in hydrodynamic experiments. MHD computations are performed: at fixed kinetic Reynolds number, increasing the magnetic permeability of the impellers reduces the critical magnetic Reynolds number for dynamo action; at fixed magnetic permeability, increasing the kinetic Reynolds number also decreases the dynamo threshold. Our results support the conjecture that the critical magnetic Reynolds number tends to a constant as the kinetic Reynolds number tends to infinity. The resulting dynamo is a mostly axisymmetric axial dipole with an azimuthal component concentrated near the impellers as observed in the VKS experiment. A speculative mechanism for dynamo action in the VKS experiment is proposed