Statistical simulation of the magnetorotational dynamo

Journal Article · Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Physical Review letters

OSTI ID:1182199

Squire, J. ^[1]; Bhattacharjee, A. ^[1]

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1. PPPL

We analyze turbulence and dynamo induced by the magnetorotational instability (MRI) using quasi-linear statistical simulation methods. We find that homogenous turbulence is unstable to a large scale dynamo instability, which saturates to an inhomogenous equilibrium with a very strong dependence on the magnetic Prandtl number (Pm). Despite its enormously reduced nonlinearity, the quasi-linear model exhibits the same qualitative scaling of angular momentum transport with Pm as fully nonlinear turbulence. This demonstrates the relationship of recent convergence problems to the large scale dynamo and suggests possible methods for studying astrophysically relevant regimes at very low or high Pm.

• Research Organization: Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)
• Contributing Organization: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC02-09CH11466
• OSTI ID: 1182199
• Report Number(s): PPPL-5060
• Journal Information: Physical Review letters, Journal Name: Physical Review letters
• Publisher: Physical Review letters
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
MRI instability
magnetic Prandtl number (Pm)