When stars like our Sun are young they rotate rapidly and are very magnetically active. We explore dynamo action in rapidly rotating suns with the 3-D MHD anelastic spherical harmonic (ASH) code. The magnetic fields built in these dynamos are organized on global-scales into wreath-like structures that span the convection zone. Wreath-building dynamos can undergo quasi-cyclic reversals of polarity and such behavior is common in the parameter space we have been able to explore. These dynamos do not appear to require tachoclines to achieve their spatial or temporal organization. Wreath-building dynamos are present to some degree at all rotation rates, but are most evident in the more rapidly rotating simulations.
BT - Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union DA - 2010-06 DO - 10.1017/s1743921311017479 M1 - S271 N2 -When stars like our Sun are young they rotate rapidly and are very magnetically active. We explore dynamo action in rapidly rotating suns with the 3-D MHD anelastic spherical harmonic (ASH) code. The magnetic fields built in these dynamos are organized on global-scales into wreath-like structures that span the convection zone. Wreath-building dynamos can undergo quasi-cyclic reversals of polarity and such behavior is common in the parameter space we have been able to explore. These dynamos do not appear to require tachoclines to achieve their spatial or temporal organization. Wreath-building dynamos are present to some degree at all rotation rates, but are most evident in the more rapidly rotating simulations.
PB - Cambridge University Press (CUP) PY - 2010 SP - 78 EP - 85 T2 - Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union TI - Global-scale wreath-building dynamos in stellar convection zones VL - 6 ER -