title: Numerical simulations of the Princeton magnetorotational instability experiment with conducting axial boundaries.
abstract: We investigate numerically the Princeton magnetorotational instability (MRI) experiment and the effect of conducting axial boundaries or endcaps. MRI is identified and found to reach a much higher saturation than for insulating endcaps. This is probably due to stronger driving of the base flow by the magnetically rather than viscously coupled boundaries. Although the computations are necessarily limited to lower Reynolds numbers (Re) than their experimental counterparts, it appears that the saturation level becomes independent of Re when Re is sufficiently large, whereas it has been found previously to decrease roughly as Re^{-1/4} with insulating endcaps. The much higher saturation levels will allow for the positive detection of MRI beyond its theoretical and numerical predictions.
authors.affiliation: Princeton University Observatory, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Princeton University Observatory, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.|Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08540, USA.
authors.forename: Hantao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Princeton University Observatory, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.affiliation: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08540, USA.
authors.forename: Fatima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ebrahimi
authors.affiliation: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08540, USA.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gilson
authors.affiliation: UCLA Physics and Astronomy, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jenko
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, D-85748 Garching bei München, Germany.
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lackner