Evidence for the suppression of the alpha-effect by weak magnetic fields

L. Tao, F. Cattaneo, and S.I. Vainshtein

in Solar and Planetary Dynamos ed. Proctor, Matthews, and Rucklidge, Cambridge University Press (1993)
Abstract. We present results from fully self-consistent numerical simulations of the equations of magnetohydrodynamics at moderate Reynolds numbers. The kinematic calculations show that there is a nonzero turbulent alpha-effect. However, dynamical calculations including the Lorentz force term give evidence that even weak fields can severely suppress this turbulent alpha-effect.
Louis Tao, September 2000, Applied Mathematics Laboratory, Center for Neural Science, New York, New York 10012