Open AccessMode enslavement in a two‐layer stellar dynamo
Author(s) -
Moss David,
Sokoloff Dmitry
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11721.x
Subject(s) - dynamo , physics , solar dynamo , dynamo theory , astrophysics , magnetohydrodynamics , phenomenology (philosophy) , classical mechanics , magnetic field , quantum mechanics , philosophy , epistemology
We consider a conventional stellar α 2 ω ‐dynamo with dynamo generators localized in two spherical shells separated by a passive layer. The signs of the α‐effect as well as rotational shear in the dynamo active layers can be chosen to give dynamo waves that propagate in opposite directions (poleward and equatorward) if the layers are considered separately in the framework of the Parker migratory dynamo. In a sequence of numerical experiments we show that the variety of dynamo‐generated magnetic configurations in the system under discussion is quite rich. We identify the possibility of almost independent dynamo waves existing in the two layers as well as enslavement of one layer by the other, and of activity waves generated by a joint action of the two layers. We suggest some qualitative explanations of the behaviour and discuss also the limited nature of these explanations. This variety of phenomena suggests previously underexploited freedoms to understand how predictions of dynamo theory may accommodate the observed solar and stellar activity phenomenology.