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We investigate the dynamo effect in a flow configuration introduced by G. O. Roberts in 1972. Based on a clear energetic hierarchy of Fourier components on the steady-state dynamo branch, an approximate model of interacting modes is constructed covering all essential features of the complete system but allowing simulations with a minimum amount of computation time. We use this model to study the excitation mechanism of the dynamo, the transition from stationary to time-dependent dynamo solutions and the characteristic properties of the latter ones.
Motivated by the successful Karlsruhe dynamo experiment, a relatively low-dimensional dynamo model is proposed. It is based on a strong truncation of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations with an external forcing of the Roberts type and the requirement that the model system satisfies the symmetries of the full MHD system, so that the first symmetry-breaking bifurcations can be captured. The backbone of the Roberts dynamo is formed by the Roberts flow, a helical mean magnetic field and another part of the magnetic field coupled to these two by triadic mode interactions. A minimum truncation model (MTM) containing only these energetically dominating primary mode triads is fully equivalent to the widely used first-order smoothing approximation. However, it is shown that this approach works only in the limit of small wave numbers of the excited magnetic field or small magnetic Reynolds numbers ($Rm ll 1$). To obtain dynamo action under more general conditions, secondary mode
Symmetry-breaking bifurcations have been studied for convection in a nonrotating spherical shell whose outer radius is twice the inner radius, under the influence of an externally applied central force field with a radial dependence proportional to 1/r(5). This work is motivated by the GeoFlow experiment, which is performed under microgravity condition at the International Space Station where this particular central force can be generated. In order to predict the observable patterns, simulations together with path-following techniques and stability computations have been applied. Branches of axisymmetric, octahedral, and seven-cell solutions have been traced. The bifurcations producing them have been identified and their stability ranges determined. At higher Rayleigh numbers, time-periodic states with a complex spatiotemporal symmetry are found, which we call breathing patterns.
Bifurcations in rotating spherical shell convection under the influence of differential rotation
(2021)
The bifurcations of thermal convection in a rotating spherical shell heated from the inner sphere and driven by the buoyancy of a central gravity field are studied numerically. This model of spherical Rayleigh-Benard convection describes large-scale convection in planets and in the outer zones of celestial bodies. In this work, the influence of an additionally imposed differential rotation of the inner sphere with respect to the outer one on the heat transfer and, more generally, on the whole bifurcation structure is investigated. In addition to numerical simulations, path-following techniques are applied in order to compute both stable and unstable solution branches. The dynamics and the heat transfer are essentially determined by a global bifurcation, which we have identified as a homoclinic bifurcation that consists of a collision of a stable modulated rotating with an unstable rotating wave.
Electrically conducting fluids in motion can act as self-excited dynamos. The magnetic fields of celestial bodies like the Earth and the Sun are generated by such dynamos. Their theory aims at modeling and understanding both the kinematic and dynamic aspects of the underlying processes. Kinematic dynamo models, in which for a prescribed flow the linear induction equation is solved and growth rates of the magnetic field are calculated, have been studied for many decades. But in order to get consistent models and to take into account the back-reaction of the magnetic field on the fluid motion, the full nonlinear system of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations has to be studied. It is generally accepted that these equations, i.e. the Navier-Stokes equation (NSE) and the induction equation, provide a theoretical basis for the explanation of the dynamo effect. The general idea is that mechanical energy pumped into the fluid by heating or other mechanisms is transferred to the magnetic field by nonlinear interactions. For two special helical flows which are known to be effective kinematic dynamos and which can be produced by appropriate external mechanical forcing, we review the nonlinear dynamo properties found in the framework of the full MHD equations. Specifically, we deal with the ABC flow (named after Arnold, Beltrami and Childress) and the Roberts flow (after G.~O. Roberts). The appearance of generic dynamo effects is demonstrated. Applying special numerical bifurcation-analysis techniques to high-dimensional approximations in Fourier space and varying the Reynolds number (or the strength of the forcing) as the relevant control parameter, qualitative changes in the dynamics are investigated. We follow the bifurcation sequences until chaotic states are reached. The transitions from the primary flows with vanishing magnetic field to dynamo-active states are described in particular detail. In these processes the stagnation points of the flows and their heteroclinic connections play a promoting role for the magnetic field generation. By the example of the Roberts flow we demonstrate how the break up of the heteroclinic lines after the primary bifurcation leads to a complicated intersection of stable and unstable manifolds forming a chaotic web which is in turn correlated with the spatial appearance of the dynamo.