Mean-Field Magnetohydrodynamics and Dynamo Theory provides a systematic introduction to mean-field magnetohydrodynamics and the dynamo theory, along with the results achieved. Topics covered include turbulence and large-scale structures; general properties of the turbulent electromotive force; homogeneity, isotropy, and mirror symmetry of turbulent fields; and turbulent electromotive force in the case of non-vanishing mean flow. The turbulent electromotive force in the case of rotational mean motion is also considered. This book is comprised of 17 chapters and opens with an overview of the general concept of mean-field magnetohydrodynamics, followed by a discussion on the back-reaction of the magnetic field on motion; the structure of the turbulent electromotive force; homogeneous and two-scale turbulence; turbulent electromotive force in the case of rotational mean motion; and the dynamo problem of magnetohydrodynamics. The dynamo theory, which is based on mean-field magnetohydrodynamics, is explained and its applications to cosmical objects are described. The remaining chapters explore toroidal and poloidal vector fields; a simple model of an a-effect dynamo; and spherical models of turbulent dynamos as suggested by cosmical bodies. This monograph will be of interest to physicists.

This book revises the evolution of ideas in various branches of magnetohydrodynamics (astrophysics, earth and solar dynamos, pinch, MHD turbulence and liquid metals) and reviews current trends and challenges. Uniquely, it contains the review articles on the development of the subject by pioneers in the field as well as leading experts, not just in one, but in various branches of magnetohydrodynamics, such as liquid metals, astrophysics, dynamo and pinch.

This self-contained introduction to astrophysical magnetic fields provides a comprehensive review of the current state of the field and a critical discussion of the latest research. Its emphasis on results that are likely to form the basis for future progress benefits a broad audience of advanced students and active researchers.

This book contains the lectures given at the workshop "Dynamo and dynamics, a mathematical challenge" held in Cargese from August 21 to 26, 2000. The workshop differed from most previous conferences on the dynamo effect in two important respects. First, it was at this international conference that the experimental observation of homogeneous fluid dynamos was first reported. Second, the conference gathered scientists from very different fields, thus showing that thepynamo problem has become an interdisciplinary subject involving not only astrophysicists and geophysicists, but also scientists working in dynamical systems theory, hydrodynamics, and numerical simulation, as well as several groups in experimental physics. This book thus reports important results on various dynamo studies in these different contexts: - Decades after the discovery of the first analytic examples of laminar fluid dynamos, the self-generation of a magnetic field by a flow ofliquid sodium has been reported by the Karlsruhe and Riga groups. Although there were no doubts concerning the self generation by the laminar Roberts-type or Ponomarenko-type flows that were used, these experiments have raised interesting questions about the influence of the turbulent fluctuations on the dynamo threshold and on the saturation level of the magnetic field.

Topics involved in studies of the Earth's magnetic field and its secular variation range from the intricate observations of geomagnetism, to worldwide studies of archeomagnetism and paleomagnetism, through to the complex mathematics of dynamo theory. Traditionally these different aspects of geomagnetism have in the main been studied and presented in isolation from each other. This text draws together these lines of inquiry into an integrated framework to highlight the interrelationships and thus to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the geomagnetic field.

Comprised of lectures for an intensive course held at the Newton Institute in Cambridge, as part of a NATO Advanced Study Institute, the topics covered within this volume include planetary and solar dynamos, fast dynamos, and the use of symmetry principles to derive evolution equations.