Abstract
We show that a model, recently used to describe all the dynamical regimes of the magnetic field generated by the dynamo effect in the von Kármán sodium experiment, also provides a simple explanation of the reversals of Earth’s magnetic field, despite strong differences between both systems. The validity of the model relies on the smallness of the magnetic Prandtl number.
- Received 2 October 2008
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.144503
©2009 American Physical Society