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Lookup NU author(s): Alhashmi Darah, Dr Graeme Sarson
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The generation of magnetic field in a homogeneous, electrically conducting fluid - as required for the dynamo generation of the fields of many astrophysical bodies - is normally a threshold process; the dynamo mechanism, applicable to such bodies in unmagnetised environments, requires motions of sufficient strength to overcome the innate magnetic diffusion. In the presence of an ambient field, however, the critical nature of the field generation process is relaxed. Motions can distort and amplify the ambient field for all amplitudes of flow. For motions with appropriate geometries, an internal 'dynamo-like' field of appreciable strength can be generated, even for relatively weak flows. At least a minority of planets, moons and other bodies exist within significant external astrophysical fields. For these bodies, the ambient field problem is more relevant than the classical dynamo problem, yet it remains relatively little studied. In this paper we consider the effect of an axial ambient field on a spherical mean-field α2ω dynamo model, through nonlinear calculations with α-quenching feedback. Ambient fields of varying strengths, and both stationary and oscillatory in time, are imposed. Particular focus is placed on the effects of these fields on the equatorial symmetry and the time dependence of the preferred solutions. © 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.
Author(s): Darah AA, Sarson GR
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Astronomische Nachrichten
Year: 2007
Volume: 328
Issue: 1
Pages: 25-35
ISSN (print): 0004-6337
ISSN (electronic): 1521-3994
Publisher: Wiley - VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/asna.200610663
DOI: 10.1002/asna.200610663
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