Plasma clouds in the magnetosphere

Injection of hot plasma clouds into magnetosphere during magnetospheric substorm

A Spherical Plasma Dynamo Experiment

We propose a plasma experiment to be used to investigate fundamental properties of astrophysical dynamos. The highly conducting, fast-flowing plasma will allow experimenters to explore systems with magnetic Reynolds numbers an order of magnitude larger than those accessible with liquid-metal experiments. The plasma is confined using a ring-cusp strategy and subject to a toroidal differentially rotating outer boundary condition. As proof of principle, we present magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the proposed experiment. When a von K\'arm\'an-type boundary condition is specified, and the magnetic Reynolds number is large enough, dynamo action is observed. At different values of the magnetic Prandtl and Reynolds numbers the simulations demonstrate either laminar or turbulent dynamo action

Measurements of the magnetic field induced by a turbulent flow of liquid metal

Initial results from the Madison Dynamo Experiment provide details of the inductive response of a turbulent flow of liquid sodium to an applied magnetic field. The magnetic field structure is reconstructed from both internal and external measurements. A mean toroidal magnetic field is induced by the flow when an axial field is applied, thereby demonstrating the omega effect. Poloidal magnetic flux is expelled from the fluid by the poloidal flow. Small-scale magnetic field structures are generated by turbulence in the flow. The resulting magnetic power spectrum exhibits a power-law scaling consistent with the equipartition of the magnetic field with a turbulent velocity field. The magnetic power spectrum has an apparent knee at the resistive dissipation scale. Large-scale eddies in the flow cause significant changes to the instantaneous flow profile resulting in intermittent bursts of non-axisymmetric magnetic fields, demonstrating that the transition to a dynamo is not smooth for a turbulent flow.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, invited talk by C. B. Forest at 2005 APS DPP meeting, resubmitted to Physics of Plasma

Observation of a Turbulence-Induced Large Scale Magnetic Field

An axisymmetric magnetic field is applied to a spherical, turbulent flow of liquid sodium. An induced magnetic dipole moment is measured which cannot be generated by the interaction of the axisymmetric mean flow with the applied field, indicating the presence of a turbulent electromotive force. It is shown that the induced dipole moment should vanish for any axisymmetric laminar flow. Also observed is the production of toroidal magnetic field from applied poloidal magnetic field (the omega-effect). Its potential role in the production of the induced dipole is discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures Revisions to accomodate peer-reviewer concerns; changes to main text including simplification of a proof, Fig. 2 updated, and minor typos and clarifications; Added refrences. Resubmitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Intermittent magnetic field excitation by a turbulent flow of liquid sodium

The magnetic field measured in the Madison Dynamo Experiment shows intermittent periods of growth when an axial magnetic field is applied. The geometry of the intermittent field is consistent with the fastest growing magnetic eigenmode predicted by kinematic dynamo theory using a laminar model of the mean flow. Though the eigenmodes of the mean flow are decaying, it is postulated that turbulent fluctuations of the velocity field change the flow geometry such that the eigenmode growth rate is temporarily positive. Therefore, it is expected that a characteristic of the onset of a turbulent dynamo is magnetic intermittency.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figure

Stirring Unmagnetized Plasma

A new concept for spinning unmagnetized plasma is demonstrated experimentally. Plasma is confined by an axisymmetric multi-cusp magnetic field and biased cathodes are used to drive currents and impart a torque in the magnetized edge. Measurements show that flow viscously couples momentum from the magnetized edge (where the plasma viscosity is small) into the unmagnetized core (where the viscosity is large) and that the core rotates as a solid body. To be effective, collisional viscosity must overcome the ion-neutral drag due to charge exchange collisions

Numerical Simulations of Dynamos Generated in Spherical Couette Flows

We numerically investigate the efficiency of a spherical Couette flow at generating a self-sustained magnetic field. No dynamo action occurs for axisymmetric flow while we always found a dynamo when non-axisymmetric hydrodynamical instabilities are excited. Without rotation of the outer sphere, typical critical magnetic Reynolds numbers $Rm_c$ are of the order of a few thousands. They increase as the mechanical forcing imposed by the inner core on the flow increases (Reynolds number $Re$). Namely, no dynamo is found if the magnetic Prandtl number $Pm=Rm/Re$ is less than a critical value $Pm_c\sim 1$. Oscillating quadrupolar dynamos are present in the vicinity of the dynamo onset. Saturated magnetic fields obtained in supercritical regimes (either $Re>2 Re_c$ or $Pm>2Pm_c$) correspond to the equipartition between magnetic and kinetic energies. A global rotation of the system (Ekman numbers $E=10^{-3}, 10^{-4}$) yields to a slight decrease (factor 2) of the critical magnetic Prandtl number, but we find a peculiar regime where dynamo action may be obtained for relatively low magnetic Reynolds numbers ($Rm_c\sim 300$). In this dynamical regime (Rossby number $Ro\sim -1$, spheres in opposite direction) at a moderate Ekman number ($E=10^{-3}$), a enhanced shear layer around the inner core might explain the decrease of the dynamo threshold. For lower $E$ ($E=10^{-4}$) this internal shear layer becomes unstable, leading to small scales fluctuations, and the favorable dynamo regime is lost. We also model the effect of ferromagnetic boundary conditions. Their presence have only a small impact on the dynamo onset but clearly enhance the saturated magnetic field in the ferromagnetic parts. Implications for experimental studies are discussed