Magnetohydrodynamic convection in molten gallium

We present the results of an experimental and numerical study of the effects of a steady magnetic field on sidewall convection in molten gallium. The magnetic field is applied in a direction which is orthogonal to the main flow which reduces the convection and good agreement is found for the scaling of this effect with the relevant parameters. Moreover, qualitatively similar changes in the structure of the bulk of the flow are observed in the experiment and the numerical simulations. In particular, the flow is restricted to two dimensions by the magnetic field, but it remains different to that found in two-dimensional free convection calculations. We also show that oscillations found at even greater temperature gradients can be suppressed by the magnetic field