Turbulent dynamo with advective magnetic helicity flux

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 large magnetic Reynolds numbers owing to the conservation of magnetic helicity. This phenomenon is known as {\it catastrophic quenching}. Advection of magnetic fields by stellar and galactic winds toward the outer boundaries and away from the dynamo is expected to alleviate such quenching. Here we explore the relative roles played by advective and turbulent--diffusive fluxes of magnetic helicity in the dynamo. In particular, we study how the dynamo is affected by advection. We do this by performing direct numerical simulations of a turbulent dynamo of $\alpha^2$ type driven by forced turbulence in a Cartesian domain in the presence of a flow away from the equator where helicity changes sign. Our results indicate that in the presence of advection, the dynamo, otherwise stationary, becomes oscillatory. We confirm an earlier result for turbulent--diffusive magnetic helicity fluxes that for small magnetic Reynolds numbers (\Rm\lesssim 100...200, based on the wavenumber of the energy-carrying eddies) the magnetic helicity flux scales less strongly with magnetic Reynolds number (\Rm^{-1/2}) than the term describing magnetic helicity destruction by resistivity (\Rm^{-1}). Our new results now suggest that for larger \Rm the former becomes approximately independent of \Rm, while the latter falls off more slowly. We show for the first time that both for weak and stronger winds, the magnetic helicity flux term becomes comparable to the resistive term for \Rm\gtrsim 1000, which is necessary for alleviating catastrophic quenching.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

The fratricide of alpha-Omega dynamos by their alpha-squared siblings

Context. Helically forced magneto-hydrodynamic shearing-sheet turbulence can support different large-scale dynamo modes, although the {\alpha} - {\Omega} mode is generally expected to dominate because it is the fastest growing. In an {\alpha} - {\Omega} dynamo, most of the field amplification is produced by the shear. As differential rotation is an ubiquitous source of shear in astrophysics, such dynamos are believed to be the source of most astrophysical large-scale magnetic fields. Aims. We study the stability of oscillatory migratory {\alpha} - {\Omega} type dynamos in turbulence simulations. Methods. We use shearing-sheet simulations of hydromagnetic turbulence that is helically forced at a wavenumber that is about three times larger than the lowest wavenumber in the domain so that both {\alpha} - {\Omega} and {\alpha}2 dynamo action is possible. Results. After initial dominance and saturation, the {\alpha} - {\Omega} mode is found to be destroyed by an orthogonal {\alpha}2 mode sustained by the helical turbulence alone. We show that there are at least two processes through which this transition can occur. Conclusions. The fratricide of {\alpha} - {\Omega} dynamos by its {\alpha}2 sibling is discussed in the context of grand minima of solar and stellar activity. However, the genesis of {\alpha} - {\Omega} dynamos from an {\alpha}2 dynamo has not yet been found.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, 3 table

Turbulent transport in hydromagnetic flows

The predictive power of mean-field theory is emphasized by comparing theory with simulations under controlled conditions. The recently developed test-field method is used to extract turbulent transport coefficients both in kinematic as well as nonlinear and quasi-kinematic cases. A striking example of the quasi-kinematic method is provided by magnetic buoyancy-driven flows that produce an alpha effect and turbulent diffusion.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, topical issue of Physica Scripta on turbulent mixing and beyon

The alpha effect with imposed and dynamo-generated magnetic fields

Estimates for the nonlinear alpha effect in helical turbulence with an applied magnetic field are presented using two different approaches: the imposed-field method where the electromotive force owing to the applied field is used, and the test-field method where separate evolution equations are solved for a set of different test fields. Both approaches agree for stronger fields, but there are apparent discrepancies for weaker fields that can be explained by the influence of dynamo-generated magnetic fields on the scale of the domain that are referred to as meso-scale magnetic fields. Examples are discussed where these meso-scale fields can lead to both drastically overestimated and underestimated values of alpha compared with the kinematic case. It is demonstrated that the kinematic value can be recovered by resetting the fluctuating magnetic field to zero in regular time intervals. It is concluded that this is the preferred technique both for the imposed-field and the test-field methods.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, published versio

Alpha effect due to buoyancy instability of a magnetic layer

A strong toroidal field can exist in form of a magnetic layer in the overshoot region below the solar convection zone. This motivates a more detailed study of the magnetic buoyancy instability with rotation. We calculate the alpha effect due to helical motions caused by a disintegrating magnetic layer in a rotating density-stratified system with angular velocity Omega making an angle theta with the vertical. We also study the dependence of the alpha effect on theta and the strength of the initial magnetic field. We carry out three-dimensional hydromagnetic simulations in Cartesian geometry. A turbulent EMF due to the correlations of the small scale velocity and magnetic field is generated. We use the test-field method to calculate the transport coefficients of the inhomogeneous turbulence produced by the layer. We show that the growth rate of the instability and the twist of the magnetic field vary monotonically with the ratio of thermal conductivity to magnetic diffusivity. The resulting alpha effect is inhomogeneous and increases with the strength of the initial magnetic field. It is thus an example of an "anti-quenched" alpha effect. The alpha effect is nonlocal, requiring around 8--16 Fourier modes to reconstruct the actual EMF based on the actual mean field.Comment: 14 pages, 19 figures 3 tables (submitted to A & A

Mean-field transport in stratified and/or rotating turbulence

We investigate the mean electromotive force in the kinematic framework, that is, ignoring the back-reaction of the magnetic field on the fluid velocity, under the assumption of axisymmetric turbulence determined by the presence of either rotation, density stratification, or both. We use an analogous approach for the mean passive scalar flux. As an alternative to convection, we consider forced turbulence in an isothermal layer. When using standard ansatzes, the mean magnetic transport is then determined by nine, and the mean passive scalar transport by four coefficients. We give results for all these transport coefficients. We use the test-field method and the test-scalar method, where transport coefficients are determined by solving sets of equations with properly chosen mean magnetic fields or mean scalars. These methods are adapted to mean fields which may depend on all three space coordinates. We find the anisotropy of turbulent diffusion to be moderate in spite of rapid rotation or strong density stratification. Contributions to the mean electromotive force determined by the symmetric part of the gradient tensor of the mean magnetic field, which were ignored in several earlier investigations, turn out to be important. In stratified rotating turbulence, the $\alpha$ effect is strongly anisotropic, suppressed along the rotation axis on large length scales, but strongly enhanced at intermediate length scales. Also the \OO\times\meanJJ effect is enhanced at intermediate length scales. The turbulent passive scalar diffusivity is typically almost twice as large as the turbulent magnetic diffusivity. Both magnetic and passive scalar diffusion are slightly enhanced along the rotation axis, but decreased if there is gravity.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, A&A, publishe

Dynamo generated field emergence through recurrent plasmoid ejections

Magnetic buoyancy is believed to drive the transport of magnetic flux tubes from the convection zone to the surface of the Sun. The magnetic fields form twisted loop-like structures in the solar atmosphere. In this paper we use helical forcing to produce a large-scale dynamo-generated magnetic field, which rises even without magnetic buoyancy. A two layer system is used as computational domain where the upper part represents the solar atmosphere. Here, the evolution of the magnetic field is solved with the stress--and--relax method. Below this region a magnetic field is produced by a helical forcing function in the momentum equation, which leads to dynamo action. We find twisted magnetic fields emerging frequently to the outer layer, forming arch-like structures. In addition, recurrent plasmoid ejections can be found by looking at space--time diagrams of the magnetic field. Recent simulations in spherical coordinates show similar results.Comment: 4 pages, 8 figures, To appear in the proceedings of the IAU273 "Physics of Sun and Star Spots

Simulations of galactic dynamos

We review our current understanding of galactic dynamo theory, paying particular attention to numerical simulations both of the mean-field equations and the original three-dimensional equations relevant to describing the magnetic field evolution for a turbulent flow. We emphasize the theoretical difficulties in explaining non-axisymmetric magnetic fields in galaxies and discuss the observational basis for such results in terms of rotation measure analysis. Next, we discuss nonlinear theory, the role of magnetic helicity conservation and magnetic helicity fluxes. This leads to the possibility that galactic magnetic fields may be bi-helical, with opposite signs of helicity and large and small length scales. We discuss their observational signatures and close by discussing the possibilities of explaining the origin of primordial magnetic fields.Comment: 28 pages, 15 figure, to appear in Lecture Notes in Physics "Magnetic fields in diffuse media", Eds. E. de Gouveia Dal Pino and A. Lazaria

Shear-driven and diffusive helicity fluxes in alpha-Omega dynamos

We present nonlinear mean-field alpha-Omega dynamo simulations in spherical geometry with simplified profiles of kinematic alpha effect and shear. We take magnetic helicity evolution into account by solving a dynamical equation for the magnetic alpha effect. This gives a consistent description of the quenching mechanism in mean-field dynamo models. The main goal of this work is to explore the effects of this quenching mechanism in solar-like geometry, and in particular to investigate the role of magnetic helicity fluxes, specifically diffusive and Vishniac-Cho (VC) fluxes, at large magnetic Reynolds numbers (Rm). For models with negative radial shear or positive latitudinal shear, the magnetic alpha effect has predominantly negative (positive) sign in the northern (southern) hemisphere. In the absence of fluxes, we find that the magnetic energy follows an Rm^-1 dependence, as found in previous works. This catastrophic quenching is alleviated in models with diffusive magnetic helicity fluxes resulting in magnetic fields comparable to the equipartition value even for Rm=10^7. On the other hand, models with a shear-driven Vishniac-Cho flux show an increase of the amplitude of the magnetic field with respect to models without fluxes, but only for Rm<10^4. This is mainly a consequence of assuming a vacuum outside the Sun which cannot support a significant VC flux across the boundary. However, in contrast with the diffusive flux, the VC flux modifies the distribution of the magnetic field. In addition, if an ill-determined scaling factor in the expression for the VC flux is large enough, subcritical dynamo action is possible that is driven by the action of shear and the divergence of current helicity flux.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures. Submitted to MNRA

Magnetic helicity fluxes in an alpha-squared dynamo embedded in a halo

We present the results of simulations of forced turbulence in a slab where the mean kinetic helicity has a maximum near the mid-plane, generating gradients of magnetic helicity of both large and small-scale fields. We also study systems that have poorly conducting buffer zones away from the midplane in order to assess the effects of boundaries. The dynamical alpha quenching phenomenology requires that the magnetic helicity in the small-scale fields approaches a nearly static, gauge independent state. To stress-test this steady state condition we choose a system with a uniform sign of kinetic helicity, so that the total magnetic helicity can reach a steady state value only through fluxes through the boundary, which are themselves suppressed by the velocity boundary conditions. Even with such a set up, the small-scale magnetic helicity is found to reach a steady state. In agreement with earlier work, the magnetic helicity fluxes of small-scale fields are found to be turbulently diffusive. By comparing results with and without halos, we show that artificial constraints on magnetic helicity at the boundary do not have a significant impact on the evolution of the magnetic helicity, except that "softer" (halo) boundary conditions give a lower energy of the saturated mean magnetic field.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, submitted to GAF