Abstract
Dynamo theory describes the magnetic field induced by the rotating, convecting and electrically conducting fluid in a celestial body. The classical ABC-flow model represents fast dynamo action, required to sustain such a magnetic field. In this letter, Lagrangian coherent structures (LCSs) in the ABC-flow are detected through Finite-time Lyapunov exponents (FTLE). The flow skeleton is identified by extracting intersections between repelling and attracting LCSs. For the case A = B = C = 1, the skeleton structures are made up from lines connecting two different types of stagnation points in the ABC-flow. The corresponding kinematic ABC-dynamo problem is solved using a spectral method, and the distribution of cigar-like magnetic structures visualized. Inherent links are found to exist between LCSs in the ABC-flow and induced magnetic structures, which provides insight into the mechanism behind the ABC-dynamo.
Chenyang Huang
Ph.D. Candidate
My research interests include fluid mechanics, computational fluid dynamics and artificial intelligence.