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1.
Abstract

Magnetic instabilities play an important role in the understanding of the dynamics of the Earth's fluid core. In this paper we continue our study of the linear stability of an electrically conducting fluid in a rapidly rotating, rigid, electrically insulating spherical geometry in the presence of a toroidal basic state, comprising magnetic field BMB O(r, θ)1ø and flow UMU O(r, θ)1ø The magnetostrophic approximation is employed to numerically analyse the two classes of instability which are likely to be relevant to the Earth. These are the field gradient (or ideal) instability, which requires strong field gradients and strong fields, and the resistive instability, dependent on finite resistivity and the presence of a zero in the basic state B O(r,θ). Based on a local analysis and numerical results in a cylindrical geometry we have established the existence of the field gradient instability in a spherical geometry for very simple basic states in the first paper of this series. Here, we extend the calculations to more realistic basic states in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the field gradient mode. Having achieved this we turn our attention to the resistive instability. Its presence in a spherical model is confirmed by the numerical calculations for a variety of basic states. The purpose of these investigations is not just to find out which basic states can become unstable but also to provide a quantitative measure as to how strong the field must become before instability occurs. The strength of the magnetic field is measured by the Elsasser number; its critical value c describing the state of marginal stability. For the basic states which we have studied we find c 200–1000 for the field gradient mode, whereas for the resistive modes c 50–160. For the field gradient instability, c increases rapidly with the azimuthal wavenumber m whereas in the resistive case there is no such pronounced difference for modes corresponding to different values of m. The above values of c indicate that both types of instability, ideal and resistive, are of relevance to the parameter regime found inside the Earth. For the resistive mode, as is increased from c, we find a shortening lengthscale in the direction along the contour BO = 0. Such an effect was not observable in simpler (for example, cylindrical) models.  相似文献   

2.
Abstract

The first three papers in this series (Fearn, 1983b, 1984, 1985) have investigated the stability of a strong toroidal magnetic field Bo =Bo(s?)Φ [where (s?. Φ, z?) are cylindrical polars] in a rapidly rotating system. The application is to the cores of the Earth and the planets but a simpler cylindrical geometry was chosen to permit a detailed study of the instabilities present. A further simplification was the use of electrically perfectly conducting boundary conditions. Here, we replace these with the boundary conditions appropriate to an insulating container. As expected, we find the same instabilities as for a perfectly conducting container, with quantitative changes in the critical parameters but no qualitative differences except for some interesting mixing between the ideal (“field gradient”) and resistive modes for azimuthal wavenumber m=1. In addition to these modes, we have also found the “exceptional” slow mode of Roberts and Loper (1979) and we investigate the conditions required for its instability for a variety of fields Bo(s?) Roberts and Loper's analysis was restricted to the case Bo∝s? and they found instability only for m=1 and ?1 <ω<0 [where ω is the frequency non-dimensionalised on the slow timescale τx, see (1.5)]. For other fields we found the necessary conditions to be less “exceptional”. One surprising feature of this instability is the importance of inertia for its existence. We show that viscosity is an alternative destabilising agent. The standard (magnetostrophic) approximation of neglecting inertial (and viscous) terms in the equation of motion has the effect of filtering out this instability. The field strength required for this “exceptional” mode to become unstable is found to be very much larger than that thought to be present in the Earth's core, so we conclude that this mode is unlikely to play an important role in the dynamics of the core.  相似文献   

3.
Abstract

We investigate the influence of differential rotation on magnetic instabilities for an electrically conducting fluid in the presence of a toroidal basic state of magnetic field B 0 = BMB0(r, θ)1 φ and flow U0 = UMU0 (r, θ)1φ, [(r, θ, φ) are spherical polar coordinates]. The fluid is confined in a rapidly rotating, electrically insulating, rigid spherical container. In the first instance the influence of differential rotation on established magnetic instabilities is studied. These can belong to either the ideal or the resistive class, both of which have been the subject of extensive research in parts I and II of this series. It was found there, that in the absence of differential rotation, ideal modes (driven by gradients of B 0) become unstable for Ac ? 200 whereas resistive instabilities (generated by magnetic reconnection processes near critical levels, i.e. zeros of B0) require Ac ? 50. Here, Λ is the Elsasser number, a measure of the magnetic field strength and Λc is its critical value at marginal stability. Both types of instability can be stabilised by adding differential rotation into the system. For the resistive modes the exact form of the differential rotation is not important whereas for the ideal modes only a rotation rate which increases outward from the rotation axis has a stabilising effect. We found that in all cases which we investigated Λc increased rapidly and the modes disappeared when Rm ≈ O(ΛC), where the magnetic Reynolds number Rm is a measure of the strength of differential rotation. The main emphasis, however, is on instabilities which are driven by unstable gradients of the differential rotation itself, i.e. an otherwise stable fluid system is destabilised by a suitable differential rotation once the magnetic Reynolds number exceeds a certain critical value (Rm )c. Earlier work in the cylindrical geometry has shown that the differential rotation can generate an instability if Rm ) ?O(Λ). Those results, obtained for a fixed value of Λ = 100 are extended in two ways: to a spherical geometry and to an analysis of the effect of the magnetic field strength Λ on these modes of instability. Calculations confirm that modes driven by unstable gradients of the differential rotation can exist in a sphere and they are in good agreement with the local analysis and the predictions inferred from the cylindrical geometry. For Λ = O(100), the critical value of the magnetic Reynolds number (Rm )c Λ 100, depending on the choice of flow U0 . Modes corresponding to azimuthal wavenumber m = 1 are the most unstable ones. Although the magnetic field B 0 is itself a stable one, the field strength plays an important role for this instability. For all modes investigated, both for cylindrical and spherical geometries, (Rm )c reaches a minimum value for 50 ≈ Λ ≈ 100. If Λ is increased, (Rm )c ∝ Λ, whereas a decrease of Λ leads to a rapid increase of (Rm )c, i.e. a stabilisation of the system. No instability was found for Λ ≈ 10 — 30. Optimum conditions for instability driven by unstable gradients of the differential rotation are therefore achieved for ≈ Λ 50 — 100, Rm ? 100. These values lead to the conclusion that the instabilities can play an important role in the dynamics of the Earth's core.  相似文献   

4.
Convection in the Earth's core is driven much harder at the bottom than the top. This is partly because the adiabatic gradient steepens towards the top, partly because the spherical geometry means the area involved increases towards the top, and partly because compositional convection is driven by light material released at the lower boundary and remixed uniformly throughout the outer core, providing a volumetric sink of buoyancy. We have therefore investigated dynamo action of thermal convection in a Boussinesq fluid contained within a rotating spherical shell driven by a combination of bottom and internal heating or cooling. We first apply a homogeneous temperature on the outer boundary in order to explore the effects of heat sinks on dynamo action; we then impose an inhomogeneous temperature proportional to a single spherical harmonic Y 2² in order to explore core-mantle interactions. With homogeneous boundary conditions and moderate Rayleigh numbers, a heat sink reduces the generated magnetic field appreciably; the magnetic Reynolds number remains high because the dominant toroidal component of flow is not reduced significantly. The dipolar structure of the field becomes more pronounced as found by other authors. Increasing the Rayleigh number yields a regime in which convection inside the tangent cylinder is strongly affected by the magnetic field. With inhomogeneous boundary conditions, a heat sink promotes boundary effects and locking of the magnetic field to boundary anomalies. We show that boundary locking is inhibited by advection of heat in the outer regions. With uniform heating, the boundary effects are only significant at low Rayleigh numbers, when dynamo action is only possible for artificially low magnetic diffusivity. With heat sinks, the boundary effects remain significant at higher Rayleigh numbers provided the convection remains weak or the fluid is stably stratified at the top. Dynamo action is driven by vigorous convection at depth while boundary thermal anomalies dominate in the upper regions. This is a likely regime for the Earth's core.  相似文献   

5.
Abstract

A spherical αω-dynamo is studied for small values of the viscous coupling parameter ε ～ v1/2, paying attention particularly to large dynamo numbers. The present study is a follow-up of the work by Hollerbach et al. (1992) with their choice of α-effect and Archimedean wind including also the constraint of magnetic field symmetry (or antisymmetry) due to equatorial plane. The magnetic field scaled by ε1/2 is independent of ε in the solutions for dynamo numbers smaller than a certain value of D b (the Ekman state) which are represented by dynamo waves running from pole to equator or vice-versa. However, for dynamo numbers larger than D b the solution bifurcates and subsequently becomes dependent on ε. The bifurcation is a consequence of a crucial role of the meridional convection in the mechanism of magnetic field generation. Calculations suggest that the bifurcation appears near dynamo number about 33500 and the solutions for larger dynamo numbers and ε = 0 become unstable and fail, while the solutions for small but non-zero ε are characterized by cylindrical layers of local maximum of magnetic field and sharp changes of geostrophic velocity. Our theoretical analysis allows us to conclude that our solution does not take the form of the usual Taylor state, where the Taylor constraint should be satisfied due to the special structure of magnetic field. We rather obtained the solution in the form of a “weak” Taylor state, where the Taylor constraint is satisfied partly due to the amplitude of the magnetic field and partly due to its structure. Calculations suggest that the roles of amplitude and structure are roughly fifty-fifty in our “weak” Taylor state solution and thus they can be called a Semi-Taylor state. Simple estimates show that also Ekman state solutions can be applicable in the geodynamo context.  相似文献   

6.
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7.
Permanent magnetism and conventional dynamo theory are possible but problematic explanations for the magnitude of the Mercurian magnetic field. A new model is proposed in which thermoelectric currents driven by temperature differences at a bumpy core-mantle boundary are responsible for the (unobserved) toroidal field, and the helicity of convective motions in a thin outer core (thickness 102 km) induces the observed poloidal field from the toroidal field. The observed field of 3 × 10−7 T can be reproduced provided the electrical conductivity of Mercury's semiconducting mantle approaches 103 Ω−1 m−1. This model may be testable by future missions to Mercury because it predicts a more complicated field geometry than conventional dynamo theories. However, it is argued that polar wander may cause the core-mantle topography to migrate so that some aspects of the rotational symmetry may be reflected in the observed field.  相似文献   

8.
Linear α2Ω-dynamo waves are investigated in a thin turbulent, differentially rotating convective stellar shell. A simplified one-dimensional model is considered and an asymptotic solution constructed based on the small aspect ratio of the shell. In a previous paper Griffiths et al. (Griffiths, G.L., Bassom, A.P., Soward, A.M. and Kuzanyan, K.M., Nonlinear α2Ω-dynamo waves in stellar shells, Geophys. Astrophys. Fluid Dynam., 2001, 94, 85–133) considered the modulation of dynamo waves, linked to a latitudinal-dependent local α-effect and radial gradient of the zonal shear flow. These effects are measured at latitude θ by the magnetic Reynolds numbers R α f(θ) and R Ω g(θ). The modulated Parker wave, which propagates towards the equator, is localised at some mid-latitude θp under a Gaussian envelope. In this article, we include the influence of a latitudinal-dependent zonal flow possessing angular velocity Ω*(θ) and consider the possibility of non-axisymmetric dynamo waves with azimuthal wave number m. We find that the critical dynamo number D c?=?R α R Ω is minimised by axisymmetric modes in the αΩ-limit (Rα→0). On the other hand, when Rα?≠?0 there may exist a band of wave numbers 0?m?m ? for which the non-axisymmetric modes have a smaller D c than in the axisymmetric case. Here m ? is regarded as a continuous function of R α with the property m?→0 as R α→0 and the band is only non-empty when m??>1, which happens for sufficiently large R α. The preference for non-axisymmetric modes is possible because the wind-up of the non-axisymmetric structures can be compensated by phase mixing inherent to the α2Ω-dynamo. For parameter values resembling solar conditions, the Parker wave of maximum dynamo activity at latitude θp not only propagates equatorwards but also westwards relative to the local angular velocity Ω*(θ p ). Since the critical dynamo number D c?=?R α R Ω is O (1) for small R α, the condition m ??>?1 for non-axisymmetric mode preference imposes an upper limit on the size of |dΩ*/dθ|.  相似文献   

9.
Abstract

This paper explores magnetic equilibria which could result from the kink instability in a cylindrical magnetic flux tube. We examine a variety of cylindrical magnetic equilibria which are susceptible to the kink, and simulate its evolution in a frictional fluid. We assume that the evolution takes place under conditions of helical symmetry, so the problem becomes effectively two-dimensional. The initial cylindrical equilibrium field is specified in terms of its twist function k(r) = B θ/(rBz ) and for a variety of k(r) functions we calculate linear growth rates for the kink instability, assuming that it develops under helical symmetry with pitch τ. We find that the growth rate is sensitive to the value of τ.

We simulate nonlinear evolution of the kink using a Lagrangian frictional code which constrains the field to have helical symmetry of a given pitch τ. Ideal MHD is assumed and the plasma pressure is taken to be small in order to mimic conditions in the solar corona. In some cases the flux tube evolves to a new smooth helically symmetric equilibrium which involves a relatively small change in the maximum electric current. In other cases there is evidence of current-sheet formation.  相似文献   

10.
Abstract

A simple nonlinear model is developed for the solar dynamo, in which the real convective spherical shell is approximated by a thin flat slab, and only the back-reaction of the field B on the helicity is taken into account by choosing the simple law α = α(1-ζB 2), where α and ζ are constants, to represent the decrease in generation coefficient ζ with increasing field strength. Analytic expressions are obtained for the amplitude of the field oscillation and its period, T, as functions of the deviation d - dCT of a dynamo number d from its critical value dcr for regeneration. A symmetry is found for the case of oscillations of small constant amplitude: B(t+½T)= -B(t). A Landau equation is obtained that describes the transition to such oscillations.  相似文献   

11.
As a step towards a physically realistic model of a fast dynamo, we study numerically a kinematic dynamo driven by convection in a rapidly rotating cylindrical annulus. Convection maintains the quasi-geostrophic balance whilst developing more complicated time-dependence as the Rayleigh number is increased. We incorporate the effects of Ekman suction and investigate dynamo action resulting from a chaotic flow obtained in this manner. We examine the growth rate as a function of magnetic Prandtl number Pm, which is proportional to the magnetic Reynolds number. Even for the largest value of Pm considered, a clearly identifiable asymptotic behaviour is not established. Nevertheless the available evidence strongly suggests a fast dynamo process.  相似文献   

12.
Abstract

This paper discusses dynamo action in generalisations of the Ponomarenko dynamo at large magnetic Reynolds number. The original Ponomarenko dynamo consists of a spiralling flow in which the stream surfaces are concentric cylinders of circular cross section, and the flow depends only on distance from the axis in cylindrical polar coordinates.

In this study, the stream surfaces are allowed to be cylinders of arbitrary cross section, and the flow is only required to be independent of the coordinate along the cylinder axes. For smooth flows alpha and eddy diffusion effects are identified, in terms of the geometry of the stream surfaces, and asymptotic formulae for growth rates in the limit of large magnetic Reynolds number are obtained. Numerical support for these results is presented using direct simulation of dynamo action in selected flows at high conductivity. Finally the case is considered when in spherical polar coordinates the flow is independent of the azimuthal coordinate and the stream surfaces, which are tori, have arbitrary cross sections.  相似文献   

13.
The magnetohydrodynamic dynamo problem is solved for an electrically conducting spherical fluid shell with spherically symmetric distributions of gravity and heat sources. The dynamics of motions generated by thermal buoyancy are dominated by the effects of rotation of the fluid shell. Dynamos are found for low and intermediate values of the Taylor number, T ? 105, if the scale of the nonaxisymmetric component of the velocity field is sufficiently small. The generation of magnetic fields of quadrupolar symmetry is preferred at Rayleigh numbers close to the critical value Rc for onset of convection. As the Rayleigh number increases, the generation of dipolar magnetic fields becomes preferred.  相似文献   

14.
Abstract

In a rapidly rotating, electrically conducting fluid we investigate the thermal stability of the fluid in the presence of an imposed toroidal magnetic field and an imposed toroidal differential rotation. We choose a magnetic field profile that is stable. The familiar role of differential rotation is a stabilising one. We wish to examine the less well known destabilising effect that it can have. In a plane layer model (for which we are restricted to Roberts number q = 0) with differential rotation, U = sΩ(z)1 ?, no choice of Ω(z) led to a destabilising effect. However, in a cylindrical geometry (for which our model permits all values of q) we found that differential rotations U = sΩ(s)1 ? which include a substantial proportion of negative gradient (dΩ/ds ≤ 0) give a destabilising effect which is largest when the magnetic Reynolds number R m = O(10); the critical Rayleigh number, Ra c, is about 7% smaller at minimum than at Rm = 0 for q = 106. We also find that as q is reduced, the destabilising effect is diminished and at q = 10?6, which may be more appropriate to the Earth's core, the effect causes a dip in the critical Rayleigh number of only about 0.001%. This suggests that we see no dip in the plane layer results because of the q = 0 condition. In the above results, the Elsasser number A = 1 but the effect of differential rotation is also dependent on A. Earlier work has shown a smooth transition from thermal to differential rotation driven instability at high A [A = O(100)]. We find, at intermediate A [A = O(10)], a dip in the Rac vs. Rm curve similar to the A = 1 case. However, it has Rac ≤ 0 at its minimum and unlike the results for high A, larger values of Rm result in a restabilisation.  相似文献   

15.
Abstract

A standard approach to the kinematic dynamo problem is that pioneered by Bullard and Gellman (1954), which utilizes the toroidal-poloidal separation and spherical harmonic expansion of the magnetic and velocity fields. In these studies, the velocity field is given as a combination of small number of toroidal and poloidal harmonics, with their radial dependences prescribed by some physical considerations. Starting from the original paper of Bullard and Gellman (1954), a number of authors repeated such analyses on different combination of velocity fields, including the most recent and comprehensive effort by Dudley and James (1989). In this paper, we re-examine the previous kinematic dynamo models, using the computer algebra approach initiated by Kono (1990). This method is particularly suited to this kind of research since different velocity fields can be treated by a single program. We used the distribution of magnetic energies in various harmonics to infer the convergence of the results.

The numerical results obtained in this study for the models of Bullard and Gellman (1954), Lilley (1970), Gubbins (1973), Pekeris et al. (1973), Kumar and Roberts (1975), and Dudley and James (1989) are consistent with the previously reported results, in particular, with the extensive calculation of Dudley and James. In addition, we found that the combination of velocities used by Lilley can support the dynamo action if the radial dependence of the velocity is modified.

We also examined the helicity distributions in these dynamo models, to see if there is any correlation between the helicity and the efficiency of dynamo action. A successful dynamo can result both from the cases in which the helicity distributions are symmetric or antisymmetric with respect to the equator. In both cases, it appears that the dynamo action is efficient if the volume integral of helicity over a hemisphere is large.  相似文献   

16.
Abstract

It is shown that magnetic fields generated by flows v r,(r,t)er+vT where vT is an arbitrary toroidal component (er˙vT≡V≡vT≡0), cannot be maintained indefinitely against ohmic dissipation. The poloidal field variable max |r 2 B r| is shown to decay strictly monotonically with an undetermined decay rate. A bound on the growth of the toroidal field norm ∥T∥1 is established solely dependent on the rate of conversion of poloidal to toroidal field, so that when the poloidal field is negligible then ∥T∥1 decays strictly monotonically. The main application of these results is to models of stellar evolution based on axisymmetric differential rotation and spherically symmetric contraction. This symmetric velocity theorem overlaps with two already known theorems, namely the toroidal velocity theorem where v r≡0 and the radial velocity theorem where vT≡0. The new theorem does not entirely include the already established ones, principal differences being in the rates of decay and the field variables for which the decay is proven (see Table 1).  相似文献   

17.
In this article we study the linear instability of the two-dimensional strongly stratified model for global MHD in the diffusive solar tachocline. Gilman and Fox [Gilman, P.A. and Fox, P., Joint instability of the latitudinal differential rotation and toroidal magnetic fields below the solar convection zone. Astrophys. J., 1997, 484, 439–454] showed that for ideal MHD, the observed surface differential rotation becomes more unstable than is predicted by Watson's [Watson, M., Shear instability of differential rotation in stars. Geophys. Astrophys. Fluid Dyn., 1981, 16, 285–298] nonmagnetic analysis. They showed that the solar differential rotation is unstable for essentially all reasonable values of the differential rotation in the presence of an antisymmetric toroidal field. They found that for the broad field case B φ～sinθcosθ, θ being the co-latitude, instability occurs only for the azimuthal m?=?1 mode, and concluded that modes which are symmetric (meridional flow in the same direction) about the equator onset at lower field strengths than the antisymmetric modes. We study the effect of viscosity and magnetic diffusivity in the strongly stably stratified case where diffusion is primarily along the level surfaces. We show that antisymmetric modes are now strongly preferred over symmetric modes, and that diffusion can sometimes be destabilising. Even solid body rotation can be destabilised through the action of magnetic field. In addition, we show that when diffusion is present, instability can occur when the longitudinal wavenumber m?=?2.  相似文献   

18.
Abstract

We consider the stability of a toroidal magnetic field B = B(s*) (where (s*,φ,z*) are cylindrical polar coordinates) in a cylindrical annulus of conducting fluid with inner and outer radii si and s o rotating rapidly about its axis. The outer boundary is taken to be either insulating or perfectly conducting, and the effect of a finite magnetic diffusivity in the inner core is investigated. The ratio of magnetic diffusivity in the inner core to that of the outer core is denoted by ηη→0 corresponding to a perfectly conducting inner core and η→∞ to an insulating one. Comparisons with the results of Fearn (1983b, 1988) were made and a good match found in the limits η→0 and η→∞ with his perfectly conducting and insulating results, respectively. In addition a new mode of instability was found in the eta;→0 regime. Features of this new mode are low frequency (both the frequency and growth rate →0 as η→0) and penetration deep into the inner core. Typically it is unstable at lower magnetic field strengths than the previously known instabilities.  相似文献   

19.
It has been suggested that there exists a stably stratified electrically conducting layer at the top of the Earth's outer fluid core and that lateral temperature gradients in the lower mantle is capable of a driving thermal-wind-type flow near the core–mantle boundary. We investigate how such a flow in a stable layer could influence the geomagnetic field and the geodynamo using a very simple two-dimensional kinematic dynamo model in Cartesian geometry. The dynamo has four layers representing the inner core, convecting lower outer core, stable upper core, and insulating mantle. An α2 dynamo operates in the convecting outer core and a horizontal shear flow is imposed in the stable layer. Exact dynamo solutions are obtained for a range of parameters, including different conductivities for the stable layer and inner core. This allows us to connect our solutions with known, simpler solutions of a single-layer α2 dynamo, and thereby assess the effects of the extra layers. We confirm earlier results that a stable, static layer can enhance dynamo action. We find that shear flows produce dynamo wave solutions with a different spatial structure from the steady α2 dynamos solutions. The stable layer controls the behavior of the dynamo system through the interface conditions, providing a new means whereby lateral variations on the boundary can influence the geomagnetic field.  相似文献   

20.
Abstract

A simple mean-field model of a nonlinear stellar dynamo is considered, in which dynamo action is supposed to occur in a spherical shell, and where the only nonlinearity retained is the influence of the Lorentz forces on the zonal flow field. The equations are simplified by truncating in the radial direction, while full latitudinal dependence is retained. The resulting nonlinear p.d.e.'s in latitude and time are solved numerically, and it is found that while regular dynamo wave type solutions are stable when the dynamo number D is sufficiently close to its critical value, there is a wide variety of stable solutions at larger values of D. Furthermore, two different types of dynamo can coexist at the same parameter values. Implications for fields in late-type stars are discussed.  相似文献   

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