Generation of magnetic fields by thermomagnetic effects in a nonuniformly rotating layer of an electrically conductive fluid

Abstract

In this paper, the generation of magnetic fields in a nonuniformly rotating layer of finite thickness of an electrically conducting fluid by thermomagnetic (TM) instability. This instability arises due to the temperature gradient ∇T 0 and thermoelectromotive coefficient gradient ∇α. The influence of the generation of a toroidal magnetic field by TM instability on convective instability in a nonuniformly rotating layer of an electrically conductive fluid in the presence of a vertical constant magnetic field B 0 OZ is established. As a result of applying the method of perturbation theory for the small parameter ǫ = (Ra − Ra c )/Ra c of supercriticality of the stationary Rayleigh number Ra c a nonlinear equation of the Ginzburg-Landau type was obtained. This equation describes the evolution of the finite amplitude of perturbations. Numerical solutions of this equation made it possible to determine the heat transfer in the fluid layer with and without TM effects. It is shown that the amplitude of the stationary toroidal magnetic field noticeably increases with allowance for TM effects.