Conservation of Magnetic Helicity and Its Constraint on $α$-Effect of Dynamo Theory

dc.creatorChou, Hongsong
dc.creatorField, George B.
dc.date2000-11-29
dc.date2001-04-23
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T01:56:45Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T01:56:45Z
dc.descriptionDynamical studies of MHD turbulence on the one hand, and arguments based upon magnetic helicity on the other, have yielded seemingly contradictory estimates for the $α$ parameter in turbulent dynamo theory. Here we show, with direct numerical simulation of three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic turbulence with a mean magnetic field, $\OB$, that the constraint on the dynamo $α$-effect set by the magnetic helicity is time-dependent. A time-scale $t_c$ is introduced such that for $t<t_c$, the $α$-coefficient calculated from the simulation is close to the result of Pouquet et al and Field et al, $-\frac{τ_{cor}}{3}(< \v \cdot \nabla \times \v > - < \b \cdot \nabla \times \b >)$; for $t>t_c$, the classical result of the $α$-coefficient given by the Mean-Field Electrodynamics is reduced by a factor of $1/({R_m |\OB|^2/v_{rms}^2})$, as argued by Gruzinov & Diamond, Seehafer and Cattaneo & Hughes. Here, $R_m$ is the magnetic Reynolds number, $v_{rms}$ the rms velocity of the turbulence, $τ_{cor}$ the correlation time of the turbulence, and $\overline B$ is in velocity unit. The applicability of and connection between different models of dynamo theory are also discussed.
dc.description31 pages, 5 figures, submitted to ApJ
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0011548
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0011548
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/2113
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleConservation of Magnetic Helicity and Its Constraint on $α$-Effect of Dynamo Theory
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