Two spinning ways for precession dynamo.

Abstract

It is numerically demonstrated by means of a magnetohydrodynamic code that precession can trigger dynamo action in a cylindrical container. Fixing the angle between the spin and the precession axis to be 1/2π, two limit configurations of the spinning axis are explored: either the symmetry axis of the cylinder is parallel to the spin axis (this configuration is henceforth referred to as the axial spin case), or it is perpendicular to the spin axis (this configuration is referred to as the equatorial spin case). In both cases, the centro-symmetry of the flow breaks when the kinetic Reynolds number increases. Equatorial spinning is found to be more efficient in breaking the centro-symmetry of the flow. In both cases, the average flow in the reference frame of the mantle converges to a counter-rotation with respect to the spin axis as the Reynolds number grows. We find a scaling law for the average kinetic energy in term of the Reynolds number in the axial spin case. In the equatorial spin case, the unsteady asymmetric flow is shown to be capable of sustaining dynamo action in the linear and nonlinear regimes. The magnetic field is mainly dipolar in the equatorial spin case, while it is is mainly quadrupolar in the axial spin case.