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J.-C. Thelen, F. Cattaneo (University of Chicago)
We consider the possibility that a significant part of the magnetic field in the quiet photosphere is generated locally by dynamo action associated with the granular flow. This argument is based on recent advances in fast dynamo theory, which show that almost any complicated, chaotic flow generates some magentic field. Numerical simulations of convectively driven, non-rotating, dynamos, in domains with large aspect ratios, have been performed in order to verify this idea. Our results show that thermally driven turbulent convection can indeed be an efficient dynamo even in the absence of rotation in term of both growth rate and final amplitude of the generated field. Some aspects of the resulting magnetic field strength and the degree of intermittency, as well as the influence of the boundary conditions on the behaviour of the dynamo will be discussed.
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