Place: 4274 Chamberlin (refreshments will be served)
Speaker: Cary Forest, UW Department of Physics
Abstract: The Madison Plasma Dynamo eXperiment is now exploring a hitherto unexplored part of parameter space where dynamos operate in nature. Dynamos are systems which continuously transform kinetic energy from plasma flow into magnetic energy. Discovering the conditions under which dynamos self-generate magnetic fields and then understanding how this field changes plasma dynamics is one of the most compelling questions in all of plasma astrophysics. In plasma astrophysics, the most important issue to be resolved is the fast large scale dynamo problem, namely "How does a highly conducting turbulent plasma self-generate magnetic energy at small-scales that ultimately self-organizes into large scale field?" MPDX has the potential to study dynamos, including fast dynamos, and related processes experimentally. I'll explain what this is and how we can make this happen in my talk.