The missing link: What can dynamo simulations learn from dynamo experiments?

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The last decade has brought about tremendous progress in dynamo research. On one hand, dynamo simulations have reached a certain maturity, reproducing numerically such important features of the Earth magnetic field, as, e.g., dipolar dominance and field reversals. On the other hand, with the first successful dynamo experiments in Riga and Karlsruhe at the end of 1999, a completely new branch of dynamo research has been opened up. The present project strives to tighten the connection between the two branches. It can be anticipated that the future of numerical dynamo simulations lies with a reliable turbulence modeling in fastly rotating systems evolving under the influence of a self-excited magnetic field. The goals of the project are twofold: Firstly, the wealth of available turbulence data from the present dynamo experiments has to be inspected with a special focus on their suitability to evaluate present turbulence models for magnetically dominated systems. Secondly, the quantities which would be interesting for turbulence modeling have to be translated into requirements for the measurement system in large sodium facilities with all their restrictions stemming from the opaqueness of the fluid and from safety necessities.