2005 MCS Divisional Seminars & Colloquia

Challenges to the Numerical Modeling of Astrophysical Dynamos

Fausto Cattaneo

 University of Chicago

  Hosted by  Paul Fischer

10:30 AM, June 3, 2005
Building 221,  Room A216

A hydromagnetic dynamo is a mechanism for the sustained conversion of kinetic energy into magnetic energy within the bulk of an electrically conducting fluid. Dynamos are commonly invoked in astrophysics to explain the origin of cosmic magnetic fields. Over the last decade a revolution has occurred in dynamo theory driven by the dramatic increase in computational resources that have made it possible to solve numerically the dynamo equations self-consistently. This has exposed some of the basic dynamo processes. The challenge is now to relate the knowledge that we acquire through these computationally accessible models to the much more extreme astrophysical situations.