Instabilities in extreme magnetoconvection

TL;DR

This paper explores the unique and counter-intuitive instabilities in extreme magnetoconvection flows of electrically conducting fluids under strong magnetic fields, highlighting the suppression of turbulence and emergence of two-dimensional modes.

Contribution

It introduces numerical analysis tools tailored for studying extreme magnetoconvection instabilities and characterizes their distinct behaviors compared to conventional convection.

Findings

Magnetic fields suppress conventional turbulence in magnetoconvection.

Instabilities favor two-dimensional modes not seen in typical convection.

Numerical tools effectively analyze extreme magnetoconvection flows.

Abstract

Thermal convection in an electrically conducting fluid (for example, a liquid metal) in the presence of a static magnetic field is considered in this chapter. The focus is on the extreme states of the flow, in which both buoyancy and Lorentz forces are very strong. It is argued that the instabilities occurring in such flows are often of unique and counter-intuitive nature due to the action of the magnetic field, which suppresses conventional turbulence and gives preference to two-dimensional instability modes not appearing in more conventional convection systems. Tools of numerical analysis suitable for such flows are discussed.