COMPUTER-SIMULATION OF A MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC DYNAMO .2.

A computer simulation of a magnetohydrodynamic dynamo in a rapidly rotating spherical shell is performed. Extensive parameter runs are carried out changing electrical resistivity. When resistivity is sufficiently small, total magnetic energy can grow more than ten times larger than total kinetic energy of convection motion which is driven by an unlimited external energy source. When resistivity is relatively large and magnetic energy is comparable or smaller than kinetic energy, the convection motion maintains its well-organized structure. However, when resistivity is small and magnetic energy becomes larger than kinetic energy, the well-organized convection motion is highly irregular. The magnetic field is organized in two ways. One is the concentration of component parallel to the rotation axis and the other is the concentration of perpendicular component. The parallel component tends to be confined inside anticyclonic columnar convection cells, while the perpendicular component is confined outside convection cells. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.