NONLINEAR EQUILIBRATION OF A DYNAMO IN A SMOOTH HELICAL FLOW

摘要

We investigate the nonlinear equilibration of magnetic fields in a smooth helical flow at large Reynolds number Re and magnetic Reynolds number Rm with Re much greater than Rm much greater than 1. We start with a smooth spiral Couette flow driven by boundary conditions. Such flows act as dynamos, that is are unstable to growing magnetic fields; here we disregard purely hydrodynamic instabilities such as Taylor-Couette modes. The dominant feedback from a magnetic held mode is only on the mean flow and this yields a simplified 'mean-flow system' consisting of one magnetic mode and the mean flow, which we solve numerically We also obtain the asymptotic structure of the equilibrated fields for weakly and strongly nonlinear regimes. In particular the field tends to concentrate in a cylindrical shell where all stretching and differential rotation is suppressed by the Lorentz force, and the fluid is in solid-body motion. This shell is bounded by thin diffusive layers where the stretching that maintains the field against diffusive decay is dominant. [References: 38]