Abstract
We present models related to the results of a recent experiment (the ‘VKS experiment’)showing the generation of a magnetic field by a fully turbulent flow of liquidsodium. We first discuss the geometry of the mean magnetic field when the twocoaxial impellers driving the flow counter-rotate at the same frequency. We thenshow how we expect this geometry to be modified when the impellers rotate atdifferent frequencies. We also show that, in the latter case, dynamical regimes of themagnetic field can be easily understood from the interaction of modes with dipolar(respectively quadrupolar) symmetry. In particular, this interaction generates magneticfield reversals that have been observed in the experiment and display a hierarchyof timescales similar to the Earth’s magnetic field: the duration of the steadyphases is widely distributed, but is always much longer than the time needed toswitch polarity. In addition to reversals, several other large scale features of thegenerated magnetic field are obtained when varying the governing parameters of theflow. These results are also understood in the framework of the same model.
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