[GTP] Reminder--GTP Seminar Monday August 17

[Silvia Gentile]

Bérengère Dubrulle
Centre national de la recherche scientifique

August 17, 2009
Center Green Laboratory 1, Room 3150
Lecture 3:00pm

Dynamo in Turbulent Flows: Theory and Experiments
The dynamo effect-the conversion of mechanical energy into magnetic 
energy in a conducting fluid-is thought to be the source of many-perhaps 
all cosmic magnetic fields (in the sun, in stars, in black holes, in 
galaxies, etc). In all these instances, the conducting medium is highly 
turbulent. I present the challenges and the questions connecting 
turbulence and dynamo. I discuss a stochastic model of turbulent dynamo, 
and illustrate its predictions with numerical simulations.
In the second part of my talk, I discuss an experimental dynamo, the VKS 
experiment, aiming at studying the dynamo in a turbulent fluid of liquid 
sodium. Dynamical regimes are found, that mimics the regimes observed in 
natural objects. The comparison with observations is discussed.