www.moffatt.

tc
Fluid Dymmits Transactions,vol. 8
Dynamo g e n e r a t i o n o f magnetic f i e l d s i n f l u i d conductors

H.K.
1.

Moffatt

(Cambridge)

Introduction When e l e c t r i c c u r r e n t s flow i n an e l e c t r i c a l l y conducting f l u i d ,

the assocfated magnetic f i e l d induction equation

@[z,t)

evolves according t o t h e

where

$s

the magnetic d i f f u s i v i t y o f t h e conductor, and

g(E,e)

i s the f l u i d velocity.

This equation holds i n t h e f l u i d r e g i o n ; i f t h i s

region i s bounded by a non-conducting r e g i o n , then i n t h i s non-conductor

8 -

is a p o t e n t i a l f i e l d s a t i s f y i n g

v.6 = 0 , va

0.

The kinematic dynamo problem c o n s i s t s i n determining under what c o n d i t i o n s t h e magnetic energy a s s o c i a t e d with t h e f i e l d from decaying t o -zero through the a c t i o n o f ohmic the f i e l d decays i n a time o f order s c a l e of t h e conducting region. a b l e p r o p e r t i e s and can be prevented

diffusion. I f

gE0,

L*/L

where L i s t h e t y p i c a l

It i s now well known t h a t i f g has s u i t -

>

is not t Q o l a r g e , then t h i s decay can be prevented

and possibly reversed. "dynamo a c t i o n " .

Growth of the magnetic energy may be described as

This process i s o f c r u c i a l importance i n e x p l a i n i n g the

o r i g i n and maintenance o f t h e E a r t h ' s magnetic f i e l d (and a l s o p o t e n t i a l l y

of those o t h e r p l a n e t s , Mercury, M a r s and J u p i t e r , now known t o have

s i g n i f i c a n t l a r g e - s c a l e magnetic f i e l d s ) , and a l s o i n e x p l a i n i n g the observed evolution of t h e l a r g e s c a l e magnetic f i e l d of the sun (which

appears t o o s c i l l a t e on roughly t h e same time-scale as t h a t o f the 22-year sunspot cycle

Parker 1970). v z s t , mid ~t

sot p o s s i b l e

The l i t e r a t u r e of t h e dynamo problem

i 3

J.%

t o review i t a l l a t a l l adequately i n a one hour l e o r k l i a .

I p?Wpose to

100

concentrate on c e r t a i n developments t h a t have taken place over t h e l a s t t e n years o r so stemming from i d e a s f i r s t put forward by Steenbeck, Kreise & Radler (1966). These i d e a s i n f a c t b e a r a c l o s e r e l a t i o n (which

I s h a l l endeavour t o e l u c i d a t e ) with e a r l i e r approaches t o t h e problem developed by Parker (195-5) and B r a g i n s k i i (1964) b u t i t i s only q u i t e r e c e n t l y t h a t the r e l a t i o n s h i p s between.these t h e o r i e s have been f u l l y appreciated. Study

of equation (1) f o r p r e s c r i b e d

g(E,t)

i s of course a purely

kinematic approach, and f o r a f u l l treatment must n a t u r a l l y be supplemented by an a p p r o p r i a t e equation of motion d e s c r i b i n g the e v o l u t i o n of

itself.

I n t h e c o n t e x t s described above t h e f l u i d can f o r the most

p a r t be t r e a t e d as incompressible and as s a t i s f y i n g t h e Navier-Stokes equation i n a r o t a t i n g f l u i d Lorentz f o r c e

d

i.e.

with C o r i o l i s f o r c e s included.

The

j,,

(where

-j

i s t h e c u r r e n t ) must a l s o be included.

It i s however e n t i r e l y l e g i t i m a t e t o d e f e r c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f this equation a t t h e o u t s e t ; conclusions based on equation (1) alone can be of very wide
g e n e r a l i t y , and provide u s e f u l g u i d e l i n e s as to necessary ( o r a t l e a s t highly d e s i r a b l e ) p r o p e r t i e s of any v e l o c i t y f i e l d expected t o promote dynamo a c t i o n .

gh,k)

t h a t may be

2.

Helicity One of these ' h i g h l y d e s i r a b l e ' p r o p e r t i e s t u r n s out t o be a ' l a c k

of r e f l e x i o n a l symmetry' i n t h e v e l o c i t y f i e l d , i . e .

i n some sense i t

must e x h i b i t e i t h e r a right-handedness or a left-handedness i n i t s g l o b a l properties. The s i m p l e s t measure o f t h e l a c k of r e f l e x i o n a l symmetry of

a l o c a l i s e d motion o f f i n i t e energy i s i t s h e l i c i t y

where

11 0

2I V,%

is the vortaci ty and the integral is throughout the fluid

volume V.

This quantity is a pseudo-scolar whose sign changes under

transformation from a right-handed to a left-handed frame of reference. Consequently a non-zero value for I certainly implies a lack of reflexiond symmetry

I is a quantity that is invariant in an inviscid fluid moving

under conservative body forces (Moffatt 1969); this invariance is associated with the interpretation of I as a topological invariant

the 'degree

of knottedness' of the vortex lines o f the motion

a quantity that is

conserved essentially by virtue of the fact that under these conditions vortex lines are frozen in the fluid. Analogously. when the magnetic helicity

=0

, equation

(1) implies conservation of

=
a result first recognized by ElSaaser

(3)

(1956).

In this perfectly

conducting limit, lines of force ( l p l i n e s l ) axe frozen in the fluid

and the same interpretation of fF1 as a topological invariant applies.

It is a feature of most elementary dynamo systems (e.g. the homopolar

disc dynamo described by Roberts 1967) that a lack of reflexional symmetry

is apparent in the configuration considered; a non-zero value for

though not inevitable, is a frequent consequence.

rH,

3.

The mean electromotive force generated by turbulence

In brder'to see how lack of reflexional symmetry can be of relevance to the problem, 'it. is necessary to develop the notation and approach of Steenbeck, Krause & Radler (1966), as done in Moffatt (197~,1974). We conceive of motions on two length scq1e.s

and

wjth

L>>.(

i.e.

_- 102 where
i s t h e l a r g e - s c a l e f i e l d and

%'

t h e small-scale f i e l d

(which may be thought of e i t h e r a s turbulence or as a random wave f i e l d with some'definite d i s p e r s i o n r e l a t i o n ) . Similarly w write e

s, = E* (x_,t)

,bI*_,t).

(5)

W use angular b r a c k e t s t o denote averages over t h e s c a l e e

so t h a t

(6)
The average of equation (1) i s then

i s a mean electromotive f o r c e generated by the small-scale motion, and

the equation f o r

i s evidently
\

If w assume t h a t e

b_=

0
\

a t some r e f e r e n c e i n s t a n t

t =0 , i s
and

is clear

t h a t this equation e s t a b l i s h e s a l i n e a r r e l a t i o n between and s o between

E.

= <e'r

>

and

g-

Since t h e s c a l e L o f

i s assumed l a r g e , i t m a y be a n t i c i p a t e d t h a t t h i s l i n e a r r e l a t i o n s h i p has

a s e r i e s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of t h e form

Since
Hii

i s a pseudo-vector

and

,d

a v e c t o r , i t i s evident t h a t

, PLjk, --g(j

a r e pseudo-tensors.

It i s a l s o evident t h a t theae pseudo-

tensors a r e determined by the s t a t i s t i c a l p r o p e r t i e s o f t h e v e l o c i t y f i e l d ( i n c l u d i n g i t s mean value

$)(Z,kI

) and by t h e v a l u e - o f t h e parameter

In g e n e r a l

,f+,

-- -

vary on t h e l a r g e length-scale L and a l s o on

any ( l a r g e ) time s c a l e of v a r i a t i o n o f mean q u a n t i t i e s .

however t h a t i n which (e.g.

103

2 '

A n important and i l l u m i n a t i n g (though i d e a l i s e d ) s p e c i a l case i s

20

and the s t a t i s t i c a l p r o p e r t i e s of

(e")
o r with

) a r e s t a t i o n a r y and homogeneous

I n t h i s case,

%J

FCjk,

---

- i.e.

do not vary with must be c o n s t a n t s ,

and i t may be noted that s i n c e

dg ,& a - - -

do not depend on
i s uniform,

*ij

may be derived on t h e assumption t h a t

on the

assumption t h a t convenient

?B.,/JX,

i s uniform, e t c . , i f t h i s should prove

.
F'.
I f these s t a t i s t i c a l

A f u r t h e r i d e a l i s a t i o n c o n s i s t s i n t h e assumption of 'no p r e f e r r e d

direction' i n the s t a t i s t i c a l properties o f

p r o p e r t i e s a r e i n v a r i a n t under r o t a t i o n s o f the frame of r e f e r e n c e , then

*@ij, PijL,

---

s h a r e t h i s property, s o t h a t n e c e s s a r i l y ,

where

Of

i s pseudo-scalar,'

is a s c a l a q

& , gh

, are

pseudo-

s c a l a r s , and so on.

A t t h i s stage, t h e c r u c i a l importance o f t h e concept

of r e f l e x i o n a l symmetry ( o r l a c k of i t ) becomes evident.

If t h e

turbulence is r e f l e x i o n a l l y symmetric, then a l l s t a t i s t i c a l p r o p e r t i e s o f t h e turbulence must be i n v a r i a n t under change from a right-handed t o a left-handed frame o f reference. I n particular, d

, which

is (implicitly)

a s t a t i s t i c a l property of t h e turbulence (deGendent a l s o on

this case vanish.

) must i n

(Similarly

a,

and

8%

must vanish, but

t h e r e i s no need f o r non-z e r o )).

fl

t o vanish (and i t w i l l i n f a c t i n v a r i a b l y b e

Turbulence that e x h i b i t s no preferred d i r e c t i o n but t h a t lacks r e f l e x i o n a l symmetry mBy be described as pseudo-isotropic. Deferring f o r

the moment the important question of how such a condition may be r e a l i s e d l e t us first look a t some of t h e consequencies. Equations (10) and (11) together give

104

The effect of subsequent terms in this series have not been investigated and are probably unimportant. moment Substitution of (12) in (7) (with for the
1

2=O

) gives

The

-term evidently represent a turbulent diffusivity effect, and it

may confidently be asserted that

is always positive (although no The

Ot -term has

general. proof of this appears to be yet available).

a profoundly different character; the associated electromotive force in

(12) is parallel to the local field

& -

this is the

Of -effect of

Steenbeck, Krause 80 Radlor (1966)

- and

the resulting term in (13)

dominates over the diffusion term when the scale sufficiently large.-

of

is

of the consequencies of this phenomenon are brougth together in the a r t i c l e by KraUsg &bdler 1971
The simplest physical interpretation of this effect is that

originally due to Parker (1955), and illustrated in figure 1.

Consider a

localised motion havin& non-zero helicity, say positive (a 'cyclonic eventt in Parker's terminology). This motion generates a loop in a mean field

line, ar.d twists the loop so that its normal has a component in the direction of the original undistorted field. Such a loop of field can be

thought of as associated with a current in the direction of the normal.

A random superposition of such events with positive mean helicity may then
be expected to generate a mean current anti-parallel to the mean field. Diffusion tends to eliminate the field distortion so that the effect will be small when
'

is large; in this limit,

d will certainly be negative

when the mean helicity is positive.

The situation is not so clea; when

is small; in this limit loops may be twisted any number of times,

and a twist of one loop through

105

will tend to be cancelled by a where

H

,&m+f

twist of another loop through & ~ a r 3 %

and

are integers

If however the lifetime of tho events is very short (as assumed by Parker) then only the limited twist picture of figure 1 will be relevant and again one would expect helici ty
K

to have the opposite s i g n from that of the mean

.
If

Let us look more closely at these two limits. sense large, then the diffusion term

is in some

Av'h
b,

in (9) will dominate over

all other terms in the equation linear in determining

As mentioned above, in

E<

, we

may assume that

is uniform, and the

appropriate limiting

form of (9) becomes simply

2

AV=!

- g*.v 9. '

In terms of Fourier transforms defined by

this becomes

imd the mean electromotive farce is

Using (16), and translating into spectral terminology, this becornea

where

where

fitlh)

is the usual Eulerian spectrum tensor of the turbulence

(Batchelor 1953).

106

For pseudo-isotropic turbulence,

where

Eh)

is the energy spectrum function and F(4) is the helicity

spectrum function (a pseudo-scalar) satisfying

Substitution of (20) in (19) leads to

a. t (.

bJ

#c.. Y

where

Note the dependence of

o (

on the helicity spectrum and the (expected) Note also that as expected

appearance of the minus sign in (22). as

>

>

d30

Consider:now

the opposite limit

1j 0

If we ignore entirely

the effects of diffusion (and it must be admitted that this is a dangerous procedure) the classical Cauchy solution if (1) is relevant. Let

E(?,k)

C-

a_ + s ( $ , k )

be the position at time at time

t
\

of the fluid

particle that started at position Lagrangian notation,

k= 0

Then, in

Bi(E,t)
and s o

= * 8 j ( e , ~ a x i / ~ a# ) J

(23)

=
where

<ecjk
U;

?(e,t~ B ~ ( G , o ) a*k/aac

>

(24)
I

(5,t')

( =

(s, ) ) t
t

is the Lagrangian velocity.

In order to

derive an expression for o'ij is uniform and that

in this limit, we may again assume that

t=o.

Under this latter assumption it

naturally takes time for

<&A

107

to build up from zero. and so

KG

,b

>

will be time-dependent (in the previous limit this build-up was effectively instantaneous). From

(24) we then have

tc =

0c.p & w e e )hr

ijk

<y(c,t) %{>at> =

~ j k [ ~ ~ a%(%,t)/3ae>c(t ( ~ , ~ )

(25)

In this form the close relation between this expression and the
corresponding expression for the turbulent diffusion tensor for a scalar field (Taylor 1921)

is noteworthy;(this expression can be obtained by a method closely related to that described above for situation, again
Q

Hid)

In the pseudo-isotropic

.C&

and from (25),

Note again the appearance of a type of helicity correlation, but this time in terms of the Lagrangian variables; and it may be remarked that one of the most intractable problems of turbulence is that of expressing Lagrangian correlations in terms of the more traditional Eulerian statistical quantities.

The expression

(27) has a recognizably similar structure to the

expression obtained by Parker (1971) in a reexamination and reformulation of his earlier theory. Parkers expression is meaningful

however only within the framework of his representation of the turbulence by random short-lived cyclonic events and there is no guarantee that turbulence in general admits such a representation.

An expressionfor

comparable with the expression ( 2 7 ) for M

has been obtained by Moffatt

(1974). However there are difficulties

of i n t e g r a l s such as. (27) as

108

; ( t h e d i f f i c u l t i e s a r e more acute

whichhave not y e t been f u l l y resolved a s s o c i a t e d with t h e convergence

t-

f o r t h e i n t e g r a l s appearing i n t h e expression f o r

/3

).

If the i n t e g r a l

i n (27)

does

converge as

t*&
P (

then the l i m i a n g

value i s undoubtedly

the appropriate value f o r

i n the l i m i t

A 4 0

If t h e i n t e g r a l

*
*

does not converge, then molecular d i f f u s i o n e f f e c t s must a t some s t a g e

( i n t e r v e n e , and the appropriate value of o

the depends on

in a

non-trivial w a y i n the l i m i t

1-

It i s d i f f i c u l t to s e e how t h i s

question can be resolved by t h e o r e t i c a l means, but numerical experimentat i o n could perhaps be used t o s e t t l e the matter.

W can now comment on t h e r e l a t i o n of t h e above approach t o t h a t of e Braginskii (1964). Bragfnskii used a decomposition ',f t h e form ( k ) ,

(5)

f o r v e l o c i t y and magnetic f i e l d i n a s h e r i c a 1

conductor, b u t with the

angular brackets representing an average over t h e aZimUthal angle

so t h a t

9
and

and

,6.

me axisymmetric f i e l d s and

(LL'

a r e p e r t u r b a t i o n (non-axisymmetric) f i e l d s .

Bragniskii assumed t h a t

these departures from axisymmetry were weak, and he concentrated furthermore on the weak d i f f u s i o n l i m i t

A 4 0

I n solving the

induction equation he developed a p e r t u r b a t i o n scheme i n powers of'

A'

i n which t h e magnetic f i e l d a t l e a d i n g order was purely t o r o i d a l ( i . e . i n the -direction). O t h e basis of the general arguments presented n

above i t i s t o be expected t h a t amem electrouiotive f o r c e l i n e a r l y

n r e l a t e d i the mean ,uiagnetic f i e l d w i l l be generated.

found a mean t o r o i d a l electromotive f o r c e

I n f a c t Braginskii

given by

+=a%

where

and

i s a (pseudo-scalar) quadratic f u n c t i o n a l of t h e

velocity p e r t u r b a t i o n f i e l d an
6 -effect,

5'

I n other

words, Braginskii a l s o found

but with t h e very s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e t h a t h i s & vanishes i n t h e l i m i t

expression f o r

( u n l i k e the expressior

(27) above vhich does not show any dependence on s i m i l a r expression given by Parker (1971) )

A , and

unlike the

Braginskii's

109

theory has been g r e a t l y e l u c i d a t e d by Soward (1972)

who has shown how B r a g i n s k i i ' s r e s u l t s may be obtained i n terms of a Gagrangian forumlation. above dependence of H I n Soward's formulation, t h e reason f o r t h e on

i s t r a c e d d i r e c t l y t o t h e transformation

of t h e d i f f u s i o n term i n t h e i n d u c t i o n equation under t h e change t o Lagrangian v a r i a b l e s . The v a r i a b l e s t h a t B r a g n i s k i i introduced and

described as " e f f e c t i v e v a r i a b l e s " a l s o appear' i n a much more n a t u r a l way from Soward's approach.

The c r u c i a l r o l e that d i f f u s i o n may play may be i l l u s t r a t e d i n very simple terms as follows. Consider t h e e f f e c t of t h e v e l o c i t y f i e l d
~

5 =

U,

(0

6 (kac-rk),

epr

(Lx-PL))

(28)

on t h e magnetic f i e l d

(&,O,O).

The v o r t i c i t y a s s o c i a t e d with (28) i s

This i s i n f a c t a motion of 'maximal h e l i c i t y '

(Kraicbnan 1973).

If

)r

i s equal to z e r o , t h e corresponding magnetic p e r t u r b a t i o n

by

i s given

>)?/at

'=

%>%/)n

and i s

SO

t h a t <%A

&>

0 , and t h e r e is no

-effect.

If however

then t h e phase of

i s s h i f t e d s l i g h t l y r e l a t i v e t o t h a t of

e,,$

no longer vanishes.
V A <

It may be v e r i f i e d that i n t h i s c a s e
# S

Mfe

2
4

The value of d does indeed vanish as

Some d i s s i p a t i o n

appears e s s e n t i a l i f a wave motion of t h e form (25) ( o r e q u a l l y a random s u p e r p o s i t i o n of such waves) i s t o provide an -effect. Braginskii's

v e l o c i t y f i e l d s a r e more a k i n t o t h i s type of motion than t o t h e s o r t of turbulence i n which any pair of p a r t i c l e s d r i f t f u r t h e r and f u r t h e r a p a r t

with increasing.time.

110

4.

Solution of the dynamo equations

I we now focus-attehtion on the equations for the mean field f

we may forget about the background turbulence except in s o far as it provides an
o(

-effect and an enhanced diffusivity through the

P -term.

In the simplest case described by equation (13) it is easy to see how exponentiuy growing modes can appear.

I f

o (

is say positive

(corresponding most probably to negative mean helicity) then magnetic modes having a 'force-free' structure satisfying

V A

E = U& 0
C

VZB,
where

= - K'6. .

eGidently evolve like

(*,

mt

=
K

dK

- [x+p)K"

and we have dynamo action provided

-=

(i+p)-'#,

i - e provided the scale of the field example the field given at time
c

gm is sufficiently large.
by
k*.

bo
Kz,

go = So (

0,

CO,

Kx)

evolves in this way.

Such a field applies only to-a conducting fluid of infinite extent, and serves merely to indicate how easily the effects &-effect can overcome the

of ohmic and turbulent diffusion in promoting dynamo action.

The situation of greater relevance in the planetary and solar contexts is

that in which the fluid is confined to a sphere, o (

is antisymmetric

about the equatorial plane (for reasons that stem from simple dynamical considerations) and the mean velocity may well be non-zero. The

311

The e f f e c t i v e i n d u c t i o n equation i s then

whore we have dropped t h e s u f f i x

i s assumed uniform.

on

and where

he= A +p

T h i s equation, or minor v a r i a n t s of i t , emerges as

described i n

$3

above from t h e t h e o r i e s o f P a r k e r , of B r a g i n s k i i , and

o f S t e nbeck, Krause and Ratiler, and s o l u t i o n s have been e x t e n s i v e l y

explored by mmputational means for p r e s c r i b e d choices of t h e f h n c t i o n s

'

#(Eland

g(E] -

( s e e p a r t i c u l a r l y Roberts 1972).

For t h e m o s t p a r t i n Among R'oberts'a

such i n v e s t i g a t i o n s

and

a r e assumed axisymmetric.

most i n t e r e s t i n g conclusions a r e t h e following: (i)

I f t h e v e l o c i t y f i e l d i s purely t o r i d a l and i f t h e dynamo o p e r a t e s

according t o t h e scheme f i r s t proposed by Parker (1955) i n which t o r o i d a l f i e l d i s generated f r o m p o l o i d a l f i e l d by d i f f g e n t i a l r o t a t i o n , while poloidal f i e l d i s regenerated from t o r o i d a l f i e l d by the
o (

e f f e c t , then

t h e most e a s i l y e x c i t e d dynamo mode i s no't steady b u t Y s o s c i l l a t o r y i n time; when t h e s i g n of

a and t h e

radial g r a d i e n t of dif-tial

rotation

a r e s u i t a b l y r e l a t e d , this mode has a d i p o l e s t r u c t u r e and t h e p e r i o d i c evolution c o n s i s t s of amplifling waves propagating f r o m t h e p o l e s towards t h e equator. Such o s c i l l a t o r y modes can b e used t o e x p l a i n f e a t u r e s of sunspot c y c l e i f i t i s assumed that sunspots appear by

the Sun's 22-year

e r u p t i o n of a t o r o i d a l f i e l d below t h e s u r f a c e when i t reaches a c e r t a i n c . r i t i c a 1 l e v e l ( s e e f o r example Steenbeck and Krause (1969)). (ii)

I f i n a d d i t i o n t o t h e d i f f a g l t i a l r o t a t i o n , t h e r e i s a meridional

c i r c u l a t i o n of s u f f i c i e n t s t r e n g t h and s t r u c t u r e , then t h e most e a s i l y e x c i t e d mode i s s t e a d y ; t h e r e l a t i v e s t e a d i n e s s of t h e E a r t h ' s d i p o l e f i e l d suggests t h a t meridional c i r c u l a t i o n may b e important i n t h i s context.
If t h e meridional c i r c u l a t i o n becomes too s t r o n g , then t h e dynamo f a i l s ,

bresumably because t h e p o l o i d a l f l u x i s then excluded from t h e r e e o n o f r e g e n e r a t i o n by the flux- e x p a s i o n mechanism s t u d i e d by Weiss (1966).

112

It should be mentioned however t h a t t h e s e conclusions a r e q u i t e

s e n s i t i v e t o t h e p a r t i c u l a r assumptions made regarding t h e assumed forms of

and

. I

As Deinzer (1974) has shown, t h e q u e s t i o n of whether

t h e p r e f e r r e d mode of e x c i t a t i o n i s o s c i l l a t o r y o r steady can depend c r i t i c a l l y on t h e degree of e p k i a l s e p a r a t i o n of t h e r e g i o n s of & - a c t i v i t y and d i f f g e n t i a l r o t a t i o n a c t i v i t y , as well as on t h e i n f l u e n c e of meridiona1 c i r c u l a f i o n . and

It i s of course dynamical c o n s i d e r a t i o n s t h a t determine

t h e u l t i m a t e q u e s t i o n of whether a dynamo w i l l

g(z_] , and

be o s c i l l a t o r y o r steady i n c h a r a c t e r cannot t h e r e f o r e be wholly separated from t h e s e dynamical c o n s i d e r a t i o n s .

3.

Dynamical e q u i l i b r a t i o n

When a magnetic f i e l d grows exponentially s i t u a t i o n described i n t h e f i r s t paragraph of

us i n t h e simple

$4 ,

t h i s s i t u a t i o n cannot

of course p e r s i s t i n d e f i n i t e l y , b u t only for so l o n g a s t h e v e l o c i t y f i e l d remains unqffected by Lorentz f o r c e s

These f o r c e s , being q u a d r a t i c

i n t h e magnetic f i e l d , must e v e n t u a l l y i n t e r v e n e . a n d modify the motion i n such a w a y oscillatory.

QS

t o provide some kind of e q u i l i b r i u m , e i t h e r steady o r

The Lorentz f o r c e

LA@

may have two e f f e c t s :

(i) It may have a damping e f f e c t on t h e small-scale l o t i o n s thus t e n d i n g

t o decrease t h e

-effect;

t h i s e f f e c t has been s t u d i e d i n d e t a i l

(Moffatt 1970b, 1972, Soward 1975) i n t h e s i t u a t i o n where t h e small-scale v e l o c i t y f i e l d c o n s i s t s of a random s u p e r p o s i t i o n of i n e r t i a l waves i n a r o t a t i n g conducting f l u i d .

It may be noted t h a t each c o n s t i t u e n t wave has

a c i r c u l a r l y p o l a r i s e d s t r u c t u r e l i k e t h a t o f t h e v e l o c i t y f i e l d (28), and t h a t such waves a r e t h e r e f o r e p a r t i c u l a r l y conducive t o dynamo a c t i o n .

( i i ) It may also i n f l u e n c e t h e mean v e l o c i t y f i e l d

,U(%).

A fleld o f

simple s t r u c t u r e such as t h a t given by (35) may be f o r c e - f r e e

(p&8,.),,ga

8)

i n which c a s e t h i s e f f e c t does not a r i s e .

But a f i e l d i n a

everywhere f o r c e - f r e e ,

113

Even

conductor o f f i n i t e extent and with no e x t e r n a l sources cannot b e and i n t h i s c a s e the e f f e c t must be p r e s e n t .

i f w s t a r t with a s i t u a t i o n i n which e

l)=o - ,

t h e mean Lorentz f w c e

a s s o c i a t e d with a growing magnetic f i e l d w i l l d r i v e a growing mean v e l o c i t y

g(%,k) which

u l t i m a t e l y i n f l u e n c e s t h e growth o f t h e f i e l d through i t s The formalism necessary

appearance i n t h e mean i n d u c t i o n equation ( 7 ) .

t o handle such an e f f e c t has been developed by Malkus & Proctor (1975), and convincing computational evidence f o r t h e approach t o e q u i l i b r a t i o n has been givenbby Proctor (1975).

Onaextremely i n t e r e s t i n g a s p e c t o f t h i s study i s t h e way i n which

a c o n s t r a i n t due t o J.B.

Taylor (1963) i s incorporated i n t h e a n a l y s i s .

This c o n s t r a i n t a r i s e s under circumstances when C o r i o l i s and Lorentz f o r c e s dominate over i n e r t i a and viscous f o r c e s so t h a t t h e c o n t r o l l i n g dynamic equation f o r t h e mean flow i s

Here

i s the f l u i d density,

the global r o t a t i o n r a t e ,

is

p r e s s u r e , and
ly.

and

t h e mean c u r r e n t and mean f i e l d r e s p e c t i v e -

When t h i s equation holds i n f l u i d contained i n any c a v i t y axisymmetric

about t h e d i r e c t i o n o f

as shown by T a y l o r , t h e f i e l d must satisfy

for each

the constraint

where

&#

q, 7

) a r e c y l i n d r i c a l p o l a r c o - o r d i n a t e s , and C k S ) i s the s u r f a c e

of a c y l i n d e r of r a d i u s 5 o h hu4ffef h p .

i n t e r s e c t i n g t h e c a v i t y boundary,

&d

. Nw i n o

g e n e r a l a f i e l d o f t i e f o r m _8(5)e

at

t h a t r e s u l t s from s o l u t i o n

of a n equation o f t h e form (36) with a p p r o p r i a t e boundary c o n d i t i o n s w i l l

not
80

clatisfy t h e c o n s t r a i n t

(38).

I n t h i s c a s e t h e mean Lorentz ,force must (and hence t h e mean f i e l d

r

modify t h e mean v e l o c i t y

) t h a t the

mok

14 1

c o n s t r a i n t i s l n e a r l y satisfied.

This w i l l lead e i t h e r t o a f o r c e balance

of the form (37) (magnetogeostrophic balance), or possibly t o t o r s i o n a l o s c i l l a t i o n s about s u c h . a s t a t e . Some aspects of this problem were

anticipated by Childress (1969) and also by Braginskii (1967,1976). P r o c t o r ' s (1975) work i s limited t o the s i t u a t i o n where
i s driven

e n t i r e l y by the mean Lorentz f o r c e and where the i n i t i a l growth of the f i e l d i s due e n t i r e l y t o an & - e f f e c t with e q u a t o r i a l plane.
r(

antisymmetric about the

Within t h i s l i m i t a t i o n he has found convincing evidence

an approach t o e q u i l i b r a t i o n under the e f f e c t s of the growing mean Lorentz

f o r c e as described above.

Further work along these l i n e s i s s t i l l required

to determine whether such phenomena as sudden r e v g a a l s & i t h e Earth's magnetic f i e l d may a l s o be embraced by the model.

F i n a l l y , I should r e f e r t o p a r a l l e l attac&.on dynamic aspects of t h e dynamo problem from t h e point' of view of convective i n s t a b i l i t y - theory. When f l u i d between two h o r i z o n t a l pl'ates i s subjected t o a temperature gradient by heating the lower p l a t e , thermal convection s e t s 'in when t h e Rayleigh number i s s u f f i c i e n t l y large. The nature of the i n s t a b i l i t y and

the s t r u c t u r e of t h e convective c e l l s a r e of course s e n s i t i v e both t o C o r i o l i s f o r c e s i f t h e fZuid i s r o t a t i n g about a n a x i s normal t o t h e planes and t o Lorentz forces i f , s a y , a h o r i z o n t a l magnetic f i e l d i s present. Different aspects of this s t a b i l i t y problem have been given recent c l o s e
I I*%]

,nru)
and Roberts and

study by Braginskii (1970), Busse (19*, Stewartson (1974,1975). rotation

Eltayeb (197$,

A f e a t u r e of t h e convection p a t t e r n when t h e

i s a t r o n g (and yet t h e Rayleigh number i s s t i l l s u f f i c i e n t l y

l a r g e f o r convection t o occur) i s that t h e h o r i z o n t a l s c a l e i s s m a l l compared w i t h the v e r t i c a l s c a l e ( t h e r a t i o being

o(n-

'

).

Soward

(1974) has exploited t h i s f a c t i n order t o develop, by the methods of the mean f i e l d electrodynamics of

+ ;

a U e t a i l e d treatment of the dynamo

a c t i o n associated w i t h such motions, and he provides evidence f o r t h e existence of such dynamo a c t i o n in.which t h e magnetic energy d e n s i t y ,

fluctuates about an average value.

Busse (1973) similarly demonstrated

the existenca of a convectively driven dynamo; in this case there was no overall rotation, and the motion consisted of convection in roll-type cells with horigontal axes together with an imposed shear flow to these axes. parallel

These studies (and others too numerous to mention) provide convincing evidence that the magnetic field of the Earth (and by inference of those other planets that have magnetic fields) may indeed be explained in t e r m of internal dynamo action due to motion in a liquid core having both large-scale and small-scale ingredients.

The ultimate source

of energy for these motions is still a matter for intense debate

- whether

convective as in the models mentioned above, or gravitational due to bulk transfer of matter in the radial direction (Braginskii 1964b), or

316

Figure 1 .

Effect of a l o c a l i s e d motion with h e l i c i t y

on a magnetic l i n e o f f o r c e .

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117

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