Thermally driven hydromagnetic dynamos

There are still many challenges to be overcome before we can claim to have a full understanding of the generation of the Earth's magnetic field. From a mathematical point of view, the governing equations are nonlinear and must be solved in fully three dimensions, meaning that a numerical method must be employed, although this would probably also be the case for a two-dimensional problem. However, it is only relatively recently that the computer technology has become available to make this possible. Obtaining these solutions remains a highly computationally intensive task, making it difficult to find solutions for a range of parameter values. This is extremely important as a great deal of uncertainty still surrounds the present (and past) geophysical values of the main parameters in the governing equations. Our aim is to try and further understanding of the effect of varying some of these key parameters in simplified, but fully self-consistent hydromagnetic dynamo models. These models will allow us to examine the effect of including the full inertial term to the equations, which has in the past been neglected due to the small geophysical value of the parameter which controls its effect. Further physical insight into the magnetic field generation mechanism will be provided, and we will examine some key issues in numerical dynamo modellingSIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN033923 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo