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http://hdl.handle.net/1903/1438
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| Title: | Hydromagnetic turbulent instability in liquid sodium experiments |
| Authors: | Sisan, Daniel R |
| Advisors: | Lathrop, Daniel P |
| Department/Program: | Physics |
| Type: | Dissertation |
| Keywords: | Physics, Fluid and Plasma (0759)
Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics (0606)
MHD, magneto-rotational instability, MRI, turbulence, liquid metals |
| Issue Date: | 30-Apr-2004 |
| Abstract: | This dissertation describes the observation of magnetically-induced instabilities that occur from a preexisting hydrodynamically turbulent background. We claim these instabilities are the first direct observation of the magneto-rotational instability (MRI). An extensive body of theoretical and numerical research has established the MRI is important in the theory of accretion disks: magnetic fields destabilize otherwise stable astrophysical flows, causing turbulence and an increased angular momentum transport needed for accretion. Our instabilities occur in liquid sodium between differentially rotating concentric spheres (spherical Couette flow) where an external field is applied parallel to the axis of rotation. Our experiments are also the first known spherical Couette flow in an electrically conducting fluid, and only the second experiment, in any fluid, at an aspect ratio of 2, the same of the Earth's core. We describe the development of a Hall probe array that measures the fiel... |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/1903/1438 |
| Appears in Collections: | Physics Theses and Dissertations
UM Theses and Dissertations
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| umi-umd-1481.pdf | | 3705Kb | Adobe PDF | 88 | View/Open |
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