title: Intermittent magnetic field excitation by a turbulent flow of liquid sodium.
abstract: The magnetic field measured in the Madison dynamo experiment shows intermittent periods of growth when an axial magnetic field is applied. The geometry of the intermittent field is consistent with the fastest-growing magnetic eigenmode predicted by kinematic dynamo theory using a laminar model of the mean flow. Though the eigenmodes of the mean flow are decaying, it is postulated that turbulent fluctuations of the velocity field change the flow geometry such that the eigenmode growth rate is temporarily positive. Therefore, it is expected that a characteristic of the onset of a turbulent dynamo is magnetic intermittency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Nornberg
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Spence
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Kendrick
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Jacobson
authors.forename: C B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Forest