Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “MAGNETIC STARS”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,153 records · Page 64
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

TORSIONAL OSCILLATIONS OF A MAGNETAR WITH A TANGLED MAGNETIC FIELD

Motivated by stability considerations and observational evidence, we argue that magnetars possess highly tangled internal magnetic fields. We propose that the quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) seen to accompany giant flares can be explained as torsional modes supported by a tangled magnetic field, and we present a simple model that supports this hypothesis for SGR 1900+14. Taking the strength of the tangle as a free parameter, we find that the magnetic energy in the tangle must dominate that in the dipolar component by a factor of ∼14 to accommodate the observed 28 Hz QPO. Our simple model provides useful scaling relations for how the QPO spectrum depends on the bulk properties of the neutron star and the tangle strength. The energy density in the tangled field inferred for SGR 1900+14 renders the crust nearly dynamically irrelevant, a significant simplification for study of the QPO problem. The predicted spectrum is about three times denser than observed, which could be explained by preferential mode excitation or beamed emission. We emphasize that field tangling is needed to stabilize the magnetic field, so should not be ignored in treatment of the QPO problem.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

A Radio Relic and a Search for the Central Black Hole in the Abell 2261 Brightest Cluster Galaxy

We present VLA images and HST/STIS spectra of sources within the center of the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) in Abell 2261. These observations were obtained to test the hypothesis that its extremely large, flat core reflects the ejection of its supermassive black hole. Spectra of three of the four most luminous “knots” embedded in the core were taken to test whether one may represent stars bound to a displaced massive black hole. The three knots have radial velocity offsets (|ΔV|≲150 km s{sup −1}) from the BCG. Knots 2 and 3 show kinematics, colors, and stellar masses consistent with infalling low-mass galaxies or larger stripped cluster members. Large errors in the stellar velocity dispersion of Knot 1, however, mean that we cannot rule out the hypothesis that it hosts a high-mass black hole. A2261-BCG has a compact, relic radio source offset by 6.5 kpc (projected) from the optical core’s center, but no active radio core that would pinpoint the galaxy’s central black hole to a tight 10 GHz flux limit <3.6 μJy. Its spectrum and morphology are suggestive of an active galactic nucleus that switched off >48 Myr ago, with an equipartition condition magnetic field of 15 μG. These observations are still consistent with the hypothesis that the nuclear black hole has been ejected from its core, but the critical task of locating the supermassive black hole or demonstrating that A2261-BCG lacks one remains to be done.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Current Sheet Alignment in Oblique Black Hole Magnetospheres: A Black Hole Pulsar?

Abstract We study the magnetospheric evolution of a nonaccreting spinning black hole (BH) with an initially inclined split monopole magnetic field by means of 3D general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations. This serves as a model for a neutron star (NS) collapse or a BH–NS merger remnant after the inherited magnetosphere has settled into a split monopole field creating a striped wind. We show that the initially inclined split monopolar current sheet aligns over time with the BH equatorial plane. The inclination angle evolves exponentially toward alignment, with an alignment timescale that is inversely proportional to the square of the BH angular velocity, where higher spin results in faster alignment. Furthermore, magnetic reconnection in the current sheet leads to exponential decay of event-horizon-penetrating magnetic flux with nearly the same timescale for all considered BH spins. In addition, we present relations for the BH mass and spin in terms of the period and alignment timescale of the striped wind. The explored scenario of a rotating, aligning, and reconnecting current sheet can potentially lead to multimessenger electromagnetic counterparts to a gravitational-wave event due to the acceleration of particles powering high-energy radiation, plasmoid mergers resulting in coherent radio signals, and pulsating emission due to the initial misalignment of the BH magnetosphere.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2016

INVESTIGATING PARTICLE ACCELERATION IN PROTOSTELLAR JETS: THE TRIPLE RADIO CONTINUUM SOURCE IN SERPENS

While most protostellar jets present free–free emission at radio wavelengths, synchrotron emission has also been proposed to be present in a handful of these objects. The presence of nonthermal emission has been inferred by negative spectral indices at centimeter wavelengths. In one case (the HH 80-81 jet arising from a massive protostar), its synchrotron nature was confirmed by the detection of linearly polarized radio emission. One of the main consequences of these results is that synchrotron emission implies the presence of relativistic particles among the nonrelativistic material of these jets. Therefore, an acceleration mechanism should be taking place. The most probable scenario is that particles are accelerated when the jets strongly impact against the dense envelope surrounding the protostar. Here we present an analysis of radio observations obtained with the Very Large Array of the triple radio source in the Serpens star-forming region. This object is known to be a radio jet arising from an intermediate-mass protostar. It is also one of the first protostellar jets where the presence of nonthermal emission was proposed. We analyze the dynamics of the jet and the nature of the emission and discuss these issues in the context of the physical parameters of the jet and the particle acceleration phenomenon.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

TIME-DEPENDENT NONEXTENSIVITY ARISING FROM THE ROTATIONAL EVOLUTION OF SOLAR-TYPE STARS

Nonextensive formalism is a generalization of the Boltzmann-Gibbs statistics. In this formalism, the entropic index q is a quantity characterizing the degree of nonextensivity and is interpreted as a parameter of long-memory or long-range interactions between the components of the system. Since its proposition in 1988, this formalism has been applied to investigate a wide variety of natural phenomena. In stellar astrophysics, a theoretical distribution function based on nonextensive formalism (q distributions) has been successfully applied to reproduce the distribution of stellar radial and rotational velocity data. In this paper, we investigate the time variation of the entropic index q obtained from the distribution of rotation, Vsin i, for a sample of 254 rotational data for solar-type stars from 11 open clusters aged between 35.5 Myr and 2.6 Gyr. As a result, we have found an anti-correlation between the entropic index q and the age of clusters, and that the distribution of rotation Vsin i for these stars becomes extensive for an age greater than about 170 Myr. Assuming that the parameter q is associated with long-memory effects, we suggest that the memory of the initial angular momentum of solar-type stars can be scaled by the entropic index q. We also propose a physical link between the parameter q and the magnetic braking of stellar rotation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

MEASURING THE ROTATIONAL PERIODS OF ISOLATED MAGNETIC WHITE DWARFS

We present time-series photometry of 30 isolated magnetic white dwarfs, surveyed with the Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope between 2002 August and 2003 May. We find that 9 were untestable due to varying comparison stars, but of the remaining 21, 5 (24%) are variable with reliably derived periods, while a further 9 (43%) are seen to vary during our study, but we were unable to derive the period. We interpret the variability to be the result of rotation of the objects. We find no correlation between rotation period and mass, temperature, magnetic field, or age. We have found variability in 9 targets with low magnetic field strengths and temperatures low enough for partially convective atmospheres, which we highlight as candidates for polarimetry to search for starspots. Most interestingly, we have found variability in one target, PG1658+441, which has a fully radiative atmosphere in which conventional starspots cannot form, but a magnetic field strength that is too low to cause magnetic dichroism. The source of variability in this target remains a mystery.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

TIDALLY DRIVEN ROCHE-LOBE OVERFLOW OF HOT JUPITERS WITH MESA

Many exoplanets have now been detected in orbits with ultra-short periods very close to the Roche limit. Building upon our previous work, we study the possibility that mass loss through Roche lobe overflow (RLO) may affect the evolution of these planets, and could possibly transform a hot Jupiter into a lower-mass planet (hot Neptune or super-Earth). We focus here on systems in which the mass loss occurs slowly (“stable mass transfer” in the language of binary star evolution) and we compute their evolution in detail with the binary evolution code Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics. We include the effects of tides, RLO, irradiation, and photo-evaporation (PE) of the planet, as well as the stellar wind and magnetic braking. Our calculations all start with a hot Jupiter close to its Roche limit, in orbit around a Sun-like star. The initial orbital decay and onset of RLO are driven by tidal dissipation in the star. We confirm that such a system can indeed evolve to produce lower-mass planets in orbits of a few days. The RLO phase eventually ends and, depending on the details of the mass transfer and on the planetary core mass, the orbital period can remain around a few days for several Gyr. The remnant planets have rocky cores and some amount of envelope material, which is slowly removed via PE at a nearly constant orbital period; these have properties resembling many of the observed super-Earths and sub-Neptunes. For these remnant planets, we also predict an anti-correlation between mass and orbital period; very low-mass planets (M{sub pl} ≲ 5 M{sub ⊕}) in ultra-short periods (P{sub orb} < 1 day) cannot be produced through this type of evolution.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Radiative Grain Alignment in Protoplanetary Disks: Implications for Polarimetric Observations

We apply the theory of radiative torque (RAT) alignment for studying protoplanetary disks around a T-Tauri star and perform 3D radiative transfer calculations to provide the expected maps of polarized radiation to be compared with observations, such as with ALMA. We revisit the issue of grain alignment for large grains expected in the protoplanetary disks and find that mm-sized grains at the midplane do not align with the magnetic field since the Larmor precession timescale for such large grains becomes longer than the gaseous damping timescale. Hence, for these grains the RAT theory predicts that the alignment axis is determined by the grain precession with respect to the radiative flux. As a result, we expect that the polarization will be in the azimuthal direction for a face-on disk. It is also shown that if dust grains have superparamagnetic inclusions, magnetic field alignment is possible for (sub-)micron grains at the surface layer of disks, and this can be tested by mid-infrared polarimetric observations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

AN ACCRETION MODEL FOR THE ANOMALOUS X-RAY PULSAR 4U 0142+61

We propose that the quiescent emission of anomalous X-ray pulsars/soft gamma-ray repeaters (AXPs/SGRs) is powered by accretion from a fallback disk, requiring magnetic dipole fields in the range 10{sup 12}-10{sup 13} G, and that the luminous hard tails of their X-ray spectra are produced by bulk-motion Comptonization in the radiative shock near the bottom of the accretion column. This radiation escapes as a fan beam, which is partly absorbed by the polar cap photosphere, heating it up to relatively high temperatures. The scattered component and the thermal emission from the polar cap form a polar beam. We test our model on the well-studied AXP 4U 0142+61, whose energy-dependent pulse profiles show double peaks, which we ascribe to the fan and polar beams. The temperature of the photosphere (kT {approx} 0.4 keV) is explained by the heating effect. The scattered part forms a hard component in the polar beam. We suggest that the observed high temperatures of the polar caps of AXPs/SGRs, compared with other young neutron stars, are due to the heating by the fan beam. Using beaming functions for the fan beam and the polar beam and taking gravitational bending into account, we fit the energy-dependent pulse profiles and obtain the inclination angle and the angle between the spin axis and the magnetic dipole axis, as well as the height of the radiative shock above the stellar surface. We do not explain the high-luminosity bursts, which may be produced by the classical magnetar mechanism operating in super-strong multipole fields.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

A tale of two anomalies: Depletion, dispersion, and the connection between the stellar lithium spread and inflated radii on the pre-main sequence

We investigate lithium depletion in standard stellar models (SSMs) and main sequence (MS) open clusters, and explore the origin of the Li dispersion in young, cool stars of equal mass, age, and composition. We first demonstrate that SSMs accurately predict the Li abundances of solar analogs at the zero-age main sequence (ZAMS) within theoretical uncertainties. We then measure the rate of MS Li depletion by removing the [Fe/H]-dependent ZAMS Li pattern from three well-studied clusters, and comparing the detrended data. MS depletion is found to be mass-dependent, in the sense of more depletion at low mass. A dispersion in Li abundance at fixed T{sub eff} is nearly universal, and sets in by ∼200 Myr. We discuss mass and age dispersion trends, and the pattern is mixed. We argue that metallicity impacts the ZAMS Li pattern, in agreement with theoretical expectations but contrary to the findings of some previous studies, and suggest Li as a test of cluster metallicity. Finally, we argue that a radius dispersion in stars of fixed mass and age, during the epoch of pre-MS Li destruction, is responsible for the spread in Li abundances and the correlation between rotation and Li in young cool stars, most well known in the Pleiades. We calculate stellar models, inflated to match observed radius anomalies in magnetically active systems, and the resulting range of Li abundances reproduces the observed patterns of young clusters. We discuss ramifications for pre-MS evolutionary tracks and age measurements of young clusters, and suggest an observational test.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Turbulent dynamo action and its effects on the mixing at the convective boundary of an idealized oxygen-burning shell

Convection is one of the most important mixing processes in stellar interiors. Hydrodynamic mass entrainment can bring fresh fuel from neighboring stable layers into a convection zone, modifying the structure and evolution of the star. Because flows in stellar convection zones are highly turbulent, multidimensional hydrodynamic simulations are fundamental to accurately capture the physics of mixing processes. Under some conditions, strong magnetic fields can be sustained by the action of a turbulent dynamo, adding another layer of complexity and possibly altering the dynamics in the convection zone and at its boundaries. In this study, we used our fully compressible S EVEN -L EAGUE H YDRO code to run detailed and highly resolved three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations of turbulent convection, dynamo amplification, and convective boundary mixing in a simplified setup whose stratification is similar to that of an oxygen-burning shell in a star with an initial mass of 25 M ⊙ . We find that the random stretching of magnetic field lines by fluid motions in the inertial range of the turbulent spectrum (i.e., a small-scale dynamo) naturally amplifies the seed field by several orders of magnitude in a few convective turnover timescales. During the subsequent saturated regime, the magnetic-to-kinetic energy ratio inside the convective shell reaches values as high as 0.33, and the average magnetic field strength is ∼10 10 G. Such strong fields efficiently suppress shear instabilities, which feed the turbulent cascade of kinetic energy, on a wide range of spatial scales. The resulting convective flows are characterized by thread-like structures that extend over a large fraction of the convective shell. The reduced flow speeds and the presence of magnetic fields with strengths up to 60% of the equipartition value at the upper convective boundary diminish the rate of mass entrainment from the stable layer by ≈20% as compared to the purely hydrodynamic case.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Event-by-event correlations between Λ ( Λ ¯ ) hyperon global polarization and handedness with charged hadron azimuthal separation in Au + Au collisions at s N N = 27 GeV from STAR

Global polarizations (P) of Λ (Λ¯) hyperons have been observed in non-central heavy-ion collisions. The strong magnetic field primarily created by the spectator protons in such collisions would split the Λ and Λ¯ global polarizations (ΔP=P Λ –P Λ ¯<0). Additionally, quantum chromodynamics (QCD) predicts topological charge fluctuations in vacuum, resulting in a chirality imbalance or parity violation in a local domain. This would give rise to an imbalance (Δn = N L –N R /< N L +N R > ≠0) between left- and right-handed Λ (Λ¯) as well as a charge separation along the magnetic field, referred to as the chiral magnetic effect (CME). This charge separation can be characterized by the parity-even azimuthal correlator (Δγ) and parity-odd azimuthal harmonic observable (Δa 1 ). Measurements of ΔP, Δγ, and Δa 1 have not led to definitive conclusions concerning the CME or the magnetic field, and Δn has not been measured previously. Correlations among these observables may reveal new insights. Furthermore, this paper reports measurements of correlation between Δn and Δa 1 , which is sensitive to chirality fluctuations, and correlation between ΔP and Δγ sensitive to magnetic field in Au+Au collisions at 27 GeV. For both measurements, no correlations have been observed beyond statistical fluctuations.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

INVERSE COMPTON SCATTERING MODEL FOR X-RAY EMISSION OF THE GAMMA-RAY BINARY LS 5039

We propose a model for the gamma-ray binary LS 5039 in which the X-ray emission is due to the inverse Compton (IC) process instead of the synchrotron radiation. Although the synchrotron model has been discussed in previous studies, it requires a strong magnetic field which leads to a severe suppression of the TeV gamma-ray flux in conflict with H.E.S.S. observations. In this paper, we calculate the IC emission by low energy electrons ({gamma}{sub e} {approx}< 10{sup 3}) in the Thomson regime. We find that IC emission of the low energy electrons can explain the X-ray flux and spectrum observed with Suzaku if the minimum Lorentz factor of injected electrons {gamma}{sub min} is around 10{sup 3}. In addition, we show that the Suzaku light curve is well reproduced if {gamma}{sub min} varies in proportion to the Fermi flux when the distribution function of injected electrons at higher energies is fixed. We conclude that the emission from LS 5039 is well explained by the model with the IC emission from electrons whose injection properties are dependent on the orbital phase. Since the X-ray flux is primarily determined by the total number of cooling electrons, this conclusion is rather robust, although some mismatches between the model and observations at the GeV band remain in the present formulation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

EVIDENCE FOR DECAY OF TURBULENCE BY MHD SHOCKS IN THE ISM VIA CO EMISSION

We utilize observations of sub-millimeter rotational transitions of CO from a Herschel Cycle 2 open time program (“COPS”, PI: J. Green) to identify previously predicted turbulent dissipation by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) shocks in molecular clouds. We find evidence of the shocks expected for dissipation of MHD turbulence in material not associated with any protostar. Two models fit about equally well: model 1 has a density of 10{sup 3} cm{sup −3}, a shock velocity of 3 km s{sup −1}, and a magnetic field strength of 4 μG; model 2 has a density of 10{sup 3.5} cm{sup −3}, a shock velocity of 2 km s{sup −1}, and a magnetic field strength of 8 μG. Timescales for decay of turbulence in this region are comparable to crossing times. Transitions of CO up to J of 8, observed close to active sites of star formation, but not within outflows, can trace turbulent dissipation of shocks stirred by formation processes. Although the transitions are difficult to detect at individual positions, our Herschel-SPIRE survey of protostars provides a grid of spatially distributed spectra within molecular clouds. We averaged all spatial positions away from known outflows near seven protostars. We find significant agreement with predictions of models of turbulent dissipation in slightly denser (10{sup 3.5} cm{sup −3}) material with a stronger magnetic field (24 μG) than in the general molecular cloud.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Estimates of Active Region Area Coverage through Simultaneous Measurements of the He i λλ 5876 and 10830 Lines

Simultaneous, high-quality measurements of the neutral helium triplet features at 5876 Å and 10830 Å in a sample of solar-type stars are presented. The observations were made with ESO telescopes at the La Silla Paranal Observatory under program ID 088.D-0028(A) and MPG Utility Run for Fiber Extended-range Optical Spectrograph 088.A-9029(A). The equivalent widths of these features combined with chromospheric models are utilized to infer the fractional area coverage, or filling factor, of magnetic regions outside of spots. We find that the majority of the sample is characterized by filling factors less than unity. However, discrepancies occur among the coolest K-type and the warmest and most rapidly rotating F-type dwarf stars. We discuss these apparently anomalous results and find that in the case of K-type stars, they are an artifact of the application of chromospheric models best suited to the Sun than to stars with significantly lower T {sub eff}. The case of the F-type rapid rotators can be explained by the measurement uncertainties of the equivalent widths, but they may also be due to a non-magnetic heating component in their atmospheres. With the exceptions noted above, preliminary results suggest that the average heating rates in the active regions are the same from one star to the other, differing in the spatially integrated, observed level of activity due to the area coverage. Hence, differences in activity in this sample are mainly due to the filling factor of active regions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Revisiting heavy ion collisions under the influence of strong magnetic fields

The quark-gluon plasma (QGP) phase refers to matter where quarks and gluons are believed to be deconfined and it probably takes place at temperatures of the order of 150 to 170 MeV. In large colliders around the world (RHIC/BNL, ALICE/CERN, GSI, etc), physicists are trying to convert hadronic matter at these order of temperatures into QGP by looking at non-central heavy ion collisions. Possible experiments towards this search are Au-Au collisions at RHIC/BNL and Pb-Pb collisions at SPS/CERN, where the hadron abundances and particle ratios are used in order to determine the temperature and baryonic chemical potential of the possibly present hadronic matter-QGP phase transition. The magnetic fields involved in heavy-ion collisions, although time dependent and short-lived, can reach intensities higher than the ones considered in magnetars, around 1.7 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 19} to 10{sup 20} Gauss. In fact, the densities related to the chemical potentials obtained within the relativistic models framework developed in previous works are very low (of the order of 10{sup -3} fm{sup -3}). At these densities the nuclear interactions are indeed very small and this fact made us consider the possibility of free Fermi and Boson gases under the unfluence of strong magnetic fields. We investigate the effects of magnetic fields of the order of 10{sup 18}, 10{sup 19} and 10{sup 20} G through a {chi}{sup 2} fit to some data sets of the STAR experiment. Our results shown that a field of the order of 10{sup 19} G can produce a much better fit to the experimental data than the calculations without magnetic fields.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2012

FORMATION OF TURBULENT AND MAGNETIZED MOLECULAR CLOUDS VIA ACCRETION FLOWS OF H I CLOUDS

Using three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations, including the effects of radiative cooling/heating, chemical reactions, and thermal conduction, we investigate the formation of molecular clouds in the multi-phase interstellar medium. As suggested by recent observations, we consider the formation of molecular clouds due to accretion of H I clouds. Our simulations show that the initial H I medium is piled up behind the shock waves induced by accretion flows. Since the initial medium is highly inhomogeneous as a consequence of thermal instability, a newly formed molecular cloud becomes very turbulent owing to the development of the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability. The kinetic energy of the turbulence dominates the thermal, magnetic, and gravitational energies throughout the entire 10 Myr evolution. However, the kinetic energy measured using CO-fraction-weighted densities is comparable to the other energies, once the CO molecules are sufficiently formed as a result of UV shielding. This suggests that the true kinetic energy of turbulence in molecular clouds as a whole can be much larger than the kinetic energy of turbulence estimated using line widths of molecular emission. We find that clumps in a molecular cloud show the following statistically homogeneous evolution: the typical plasma {beta} of the clumps is roughly constant ({beta}) {approx_equal} 0.4; the size-velocity dispersion relation is {Delta}v {approx_equal} 1.5 km s{sup -1} (l/1 pc){sup 0.5}, irrespective of the density; the clumps evolve toward magnetically supercritical, gravitationally unstable cores; and the clumps seem to evolve into cores that satisfy the condition for fragmentation into binaries. These statistical properties may represent the initial conditions of star formation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

TIDALLY DRIVEN DYNAMOS IN A ROTATING SPHERE

Large-scale planetary or stellar magnetic fields generated by a dynamo effect are mostly attributed to flows forced by buoyancy forces in electrically conducting fluid layers. However, these large-scale fields may also be controlled by tides, as previously suggested for the star τ-boo, Mars, or the early Moon. By simulating a small local patch of a rotating fluid, Barker and Lithwick have recently shown that tides can drive small-scale dynamos by exciting a hydrodynamic instability, the so-called elliptical (or tidal) instability. By performing global magnetohydrodynamic simulations of a rotating spherical fluid body, we investigate if this instability can also drive the observed large-scale magnetic fields. We are thus interested in the dynamo threshold and the generated magnetic field in order to test if such a mechanism is relevant for planets and stars. Rather than solving the problem in a geometry deformed by tides, we consider a spherical fluid body and add a body force to mimic the tidal deformation in the bulk of the fluid. This allows us to use an efficient spectral code to solve the magnetohydrodynamic problem. We first compare the hydrodynamic results with theoretical asymptotic results and numerical results obtained in a truly deformed ellipsoid, which confirms the presence of elliptical instability. We then perform magnetohydrodynamic simulations and investigate the dynamo capability of the flow. Kinematic and self-consistent dynamos are finally simulated, showing that the elliptical instability is capable of generating a dipole-dominated large-scale magnetic field in global simulations of a fluid rotating sphere.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗