Overview
- Provides a didactic presentation of the theory of stellar magnetic fields
- Monographic synthesis of lectures given at Saas-Fee Advanced Course 39
- Presents a volume in an internationally highly regarded lecture notes series
- Comes with appendices providing material which is useful in working with magnetohydrodynamics and dynamo theory
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Saas-Fee Advanced Course (SAASFEE, volume 39)
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Table of contents (5 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
Astrophysical dynamos are at the heart of cosmic magnetic fields of a wide range of scales, from planets and stars to entire galaxies. This book presents a thorough, step-by-step introduction to solar and stellar dynamos. Looking first at the ultimate origin of cosmic seed magnetic fields, the antagonists of field amplification are next considered: resistive decay, flux expulsion, and flows ruled out by anti-dynamo theorems. Two kinematic flows that can act as dynamos are then studied: the Roberts cell and the CP-flow. Mean-field electrodynamics and derivation of the mean-field dynamo equations lead to the alpha Omega-dynamo, the flux transport dynamo, and dynamos based on the Babcock-Leighton mechanism. Alternatives to the mean-field theory are also presented, as are global MHD dynamo simulations. Fluctuations and grand minima in the solar cycle are discussed in terms of dynamo modulations through stochastic forcing and nonlinear effects. The book concludes with an overview of the major challenges in understanding stellar magnetic fields and their evolution in terms of various dynamo models, global MHD simulations, and fossil fields. Each chapter is accompanied by an annotated bibliography, guiding the readers to the relevant technical literature, which may lead them to carry out their own research in the field of dynamo theory.
Authors, Editors and Affiliations
About the editor
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Solar and Stellar Dynamos
Book Subtitle: Saas-Fee Advanced Course 39 Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy
Authors: Paul Charbonneau
Editors: Oskar Steiner
Series Title: Saas-Fee Advanced Course
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32093-4
Publisher: Springer Berlin, Heidelberg
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-642-32092-7Published: 06 November 2012
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-642-43047-3Published: 14 December 2014
eBook ISBN: 978-3-642-32093-4Published: 06 November 2012
Series ISSN: 1861-7980
Series E-ISSN: 1861-8227
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVI, 240
Topics: Astrophysics and Astroparticles, Plasma Physics, Classical Electrodynamics, Magnetism, Magnetic Materials, Applications of Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos Theory