The Tayler instability of an azimuthal magnetic field with one or two ``rings'' along the radius is studied for an axially unbounded Taylor-Couette flow. The rotation law of the conducting fluid is a quasi-Keplerian one. Without rotation all toroidal fields are the more destabilized the more the radial profiles differ from the uniformity. For medium Reynolds numbers of rotation, however, the behaviour of the lines of neutral stability strongly depend on the magnetic Prandtl number. For Pm=1 the differential rotation matches the instability lines of azimuthal fields with and without rings so that the maximally possible Reynolds numbers for fields with smooth radial profiles and such with rings do hardly differ. The magnetic Mach number of the considered examples are of the astrophysically relevant order of magnitude between ten and twenty. The nonaxisymmetric instability fluctuations form a weak alpha effect of the mean-field electrodynamics which always changes its sign between the walls independent of the Reynolds number, magnetic Prandtl number or the radial profile of the magnetic background field. The resulting dynamo modes work on a similar axial scale as the Tayler instability, hence they are small-scale dynamos. The fields are axially drifting with high phase velocity where at certain periods the azimuthal fields with one-ring geometry develop to fields with two rings along the radius. It is still open whether and how a nonlinear dynamo model may overcome this puzzling complication.

The excitation conditions of the magnetorotational instability (MRI) are studied for axially unbounded Taylor–Couette (TC) flows of various gap widths between the cylinders. The cylinders are considered as made from both perfect-conducting or insulating material and the conducting fluid with a finite but small magnetic Prandtl number rotates with a quasi-Keplerian velocity profile. The solutions are optimized with respect to the wavenumber and the Reynolds number of the rotation of the inner cylinder. For the axisymmetric modes, we find the critical Lundquist number of the applied axial magnetic field: the lower, the wider the gap between the cylinders. A similar result is obtained for the induced cell structure: the wider the gap, the more spherical the cells are. The marginal rotation rate of the inner cylinder – for a fixed size of the outer cylinder – always possesses a minimum for not too wide and not too narrow gap widths. For perfect-conducting walls the minimum lies at $r_{{\rm in}}\simeq 0.4$ , where $r_{{\rm in}}$ is the ratio of the radii of the two rotating cylinders. The lowest magnetic field amplitudes to excite the instability are required for TC flows between perfect-conducting cylinders with gaps corresponding to $r_{{\rm in}}\simeq ~0.2$ . For even wider and also for very thin gaps the needed magnetic fields and rotation frequencies are shown to become rather huge. Also the non-axisymmetric modes with $|m|=1$ have been considered. Their excitation generally requires stronger magnetic fields and higher magnetic Reynolds numbers in comparison with those for the axisymmetric modes. If TC experiments with too slow rotation for the applied magnetic fields yield unstable modes of any azimuthal symmetry, such as the currently reported Princeton experiment (Wang et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 129, 115001), then also other players, including axial boundary effects, than the MRI-typical linear combination of current-free fields and differential rotation should be in the game.

Laminar electrically conducting Couette flows with the hydrodynamically stable quasi-Keplerian rotation profile and non-uniform conductivity are probed for dynamo instability. In spherical geometry the equations for the poloidal and the toroidal field components completely decouple, resulting in free decay, regardless of the spatial distribution of the electric conductivity. In cylindrical geometry the poloidal and toroidal components do not decouple, but here also we do not find dynamo excitations for the cases that the electric conductivity only depends on the radius or -- much more complex -- that it only depends on the azimuthal or the axial coordinate. The transformation of the plane-flow dynamo model of Busse \& Wicht (1992) to cylindrical or spherical geometry therefore fails. It is also shown that even the inclusion of axial flows of both directions does {\em not} support the dynamo mechanism. The Elsasser toroidal-velocity antidynamo theorem, according to which dynamos without any radial velocity component cannot work, is thus not softened by non-uniform conductivity distributions.

In an earlier paper we showed that the combination of azimuthal magnetic fields and super-rotation in Taylor–Couette flows of conducting fluids can be unstable against non-axisymmetric perturbations if the magnetic Prandtl number of the fluid is $\textrm {Pm}\neq 1$ . Here we demonstrate that the addition of a weak axial field component allows axisymmetric perturbation patterns for $\textrm {Pm}$ of order unity depending on the boundary conditions. The axisymmetric modes only occur for magnetic Mach numbers (of the azimuthal field) of order unity, while higher values are necessary for the non-axisymmetric modes. The typical growth time of the instability and the characteristic time scale of the axial migration of the axisymmetric mode are long compared with the rotation period, but short compared with the magnetic diffusion time. The modes travel in the positive or negative $z$ direction along the rotation axis depending on the sign of $B_\phi B_z$ . We also demonstrate that the azimuthal components of flow and field perturbations travel in phase if $|B_\phi |\gg |B_z|$ , independent of the form of the rotation law. Within a short-wave approximation for thin gaps it is also shown (in an appendix) that for ideal fluids the considered helical magnetorotational instability only exists for rotation laws with negative shear.

A conducting Taylor–Couette flow with quasi-Keplerian rotation law containing a toroidal magnetic field serves as a mean-field dynamo model of the Tayler–Spruit type. The flows are unstable against non-axisymmetric perturbations which form electromotive forces defining α effect and eddy diffusivity. If both degenerated modes with m = ±1 are excited with the same power then the global α effect vanishes and a dynamo cannot work. It is shown, however, that the Tayler instability produces finite α effects if only an isolated mode is considered but this intrinsic helicity of the single-mode is too low for an α2 dynamo. Moreover, an αΩ dynamo model with quasi-Keplerian rotation requires a minimum magnetic Reynolds number of rotation of Rm ≃ 2000 to work. Whether it really works depends on assumptions about the turbulence energy. For a steeper-than-quadratic dependence of the turbulence intensity on the magnetic field, however, dynamos are only excited if the resulting magnetic eddy diffusivity approximates its microscopic value, ηT ≃ η. By basically lower or larger eddy diffusivities the dynamo instability is suppressed.

The stability of conducting Taylor–Couette flows under the presence of toroidal magnetic background fields is considered. For strong enough magnetic amplitudes such magnetohydrodynamic flows are unstable against non-axisymmetric perturbations which may also transport angular momentum. In accordance with the often used diffusion approximation, one expects the angular momentum transport to be vanishing for rigid rotation. In the sense of a non-diffusive $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6EC}$ effect, however, even for rigidly rotating $z$ -pinches, an axisymmetric angular momentum flux appears which is directed outward (inward) for large (small) magnetic Mach numbers. The internal rotation in a magnetized rotating tank can thus never be uniform. Those particular rotation laws are used to estimate the value of the instability-induced eddy viscosity for which the non-diffusive $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6EC}$ effect and the diffusive shear-induced transport compensate each other. The results provide the Shakura & Sunyaev viscosity ansatz leading to numerical values linearly growing with the applied magnetic field.

The nonaxisymmetric azimuthal magnetorotational instability is studied for hydromagnetic Taylor-Couette flows between cylinders of finite electrical conductivity. We find that the magnetic Prandtl number Pm determines whether perfectly conducting or insulating boundary conditions lead to lower Hartmann numbers for the onset of instability. Regardless of the imposed rotation profile, for small Pm the solutions for perfectly conducting cylinders become unstable for weaker magnetic fields than the solutions for insulating cylinders. The critical Hartmann and Reynolds numbers form monotonic functions of the ratio of the electrical conductivities of the cylinders and the fluid, such that a ratio of about 10 provides a very good approximation to perfectly conducting cylinders, and a ratio of about 0.1 a very good approximation to insulating cylinders. These results are of particular relevance for the super-rotating case where the outer cylinder rotates faster than the inner one; in this case the critical onset values are substantially different for perfectly conducting versus insulating boundary conditions. An experimental realization of the super-rotating instability, with liquid sodium as the fluid and cylinders made of copper, would require an electric current of at least 33.5 kAmp running along the central axis.

Decades ago S. Lundquist, S. Chandrasekhar, P. H. Roberts and R. J. Tayler first posed questions about the stability of Taylor-Couette flows of conducting material under the influence of large-scale magnetic fields. These and many new questions can now be answered numerically where the nonlinear simulations even provide the instability-induced values of several transport coefficients. The cylindrical containers are axially unbounded and penetrated by magnetic background fields with axial and/or azimuthal components. The influence of the magnetic Prandtl number Pm on the onset of the instabilities is shown to be substantial. The potetial flow subject to axial fields becomes unstable against axisymmetric perturbations for a certain supercritical value of the averaged Reynolds number (Rm) over bar = root Re.Rm (with Re the Reynolds number of rotation, Rm its magnetic Reynolds number). Rotation profiles as flat as the quasi-Keplerian rotation law scale similarly but only for Pm >> 1 while for Pm << 1 the instability instead sets in for supercritical Rm at an optimal value of the magnetic field. Among the considered instabilities of azimuthal fields, those of the Chandrasekhar-type, where the background field and the background flow have identical radial profiles, are particularly interesting. They are unstable against nonaxisymmetric perturbations if at least one of the diffusivities is non-zero. For Pm << 1 the onset of the instability scales with Re while it scales with (Rm) over bar for Pm >> 1. Even superrotation can be destabilized by azimuthal and current-free magnetic fields; this recently discovered nonaxisymmetric instability is of a double-diffusive character, thus excluding Pm = 1. It scales with Re for Pm -> 0 and with Rm for Pm -> infinity. The presented results allow the construction of several new experiments with liquid metals as the conducting fluid. Some of them are described here and their results will be discussed together with relevant diversifications of the magnetic instability theory including nonlinear numerical studies of the kinetic and magnetic energies, the azimuthal spectra and the influence of the Hall effect. (C) 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

It is demonstrated that the azimuthal magnetorotational instability (AMRI) also works with radially increasing rotation rates contrary to the standard magnetorotational instability for axial fields which requires negative shear. The stability against non-axisymmetric perturbations of a conducting Taylor–Couette flow with positive shear under the influence of a toroidal magnetic field is considered if the background field between the cylinders is current free. For small magnetic Prandtl number $Pm\rightarrow 0$ the curves of neutral stability converge in the (Hartmann number,Reynolds number) plane approximating the stability curve obtained in the inductionless limit $Pm=0$. The numerical solutions for $Pm=0$ indicate the existence of a lower limit of the shear rate. For large $Pm$ the curves scale with the magnetic Reynolds number of the outer cylinder but the flow is always stable for magnetic Prandtl number unity as is typical for double-diffusive instabilities. We are particularly interested to know the minimum Hartmann number for neutral stability. For models with resting or almost resting inner cylinder and with perfectly conducting cylinder material the minimum Hartmann number occurs for a radius ratio of $r_{\text{in}}=0.9$. The corresponding critical Reynolds numbers are smaller than $10^{4}$.

In view of new experimental data the instability against adiabatic nonaxisymmetric perturbations of a Taylor-Couette flow with an axial density stratification is considered in dependence of the Reynolds number () of rotation and the Brunt-Väisälä number (Rn) of the stratification. The flows at and beyond the Rayleigh limit become unstable between a lower and an upper Reynolds number (for fixed Rn). The rotation can thus be too slow or too fast for the stratorotational instability. The upper Reynolds number above which the instability decays, has its maximum value for the potential flow (driven by cylinders rotating according to the Rayleigh limit) and decreases strongly for flatter rotation profiles finally leaving only isolated islands of instability in the () map. The maximal possible rotation ratio only slightly exceeds the shear value of the quasi-uniform flow with const. Along and between the lines of neutral stability the wave numbers of the instability patterns for all rotation laws beyond the Rayleigh limit are mainly determined by the Froude number which is defined by the ratio between and Rn. The cells are highly prolate for so that measurements for too high Reynolds numbers become difficult for axially bounded containers. The instability patterns migrate azimuthally slightly faster than the outer cylinder rotates.

We consider axially periodic Taylor–Couette geometry with insulating boundary conditions. The imposed basic states are so-called Chandrasekhar states, where the azimuthal flow Uϕ and magnetic field Bϕ have the same radial profiles. Mainly three particular profiles are considered: the Rayleigh limit, quasi-Keplerian, and solid-body rotation. In each case we begin by computing linear instability curves and their dependence on the magnetic Prandtl number . For the azimuthal wavenumber m = 1 modes, the instability curves always scale with the Reynolds number and the Hartmann number. For sufficiently small these modes therefore only become unstable for magnetic Mach numbers less than unity, and are thus not relevant for most astrophysical applications. However, modes with can behave very differently. For sufficiently flat profiles, they scale with the magnetic Reynolds number and the Lundquist number, thereby allowing instability also for the large magnetic Mach numbers of astrophysical objects. We further compute fully nonlinear, three-dimensional equilibration of these instabilities, and investigate how the energy is distributed among the azimuthal (m) and axial (k) wavenumbers. In comparison spectra become steeper for large m, reflecting the smoothing action of shear. On the other hand kinetic and magnetic energy spectra exhibit similar behavior: if several azimuthal modes are already linearly unstable they are relatively flat, but for the rigidly rotating case where m = 1 is the only unstable mode they are so steep that neither Kolmogorov nor Iroshnikov–Kraichnan spectra fit the results. The total magnetic energy exceeds the kinetic energy only for large magnetic Reynolds numbers .

It is known that in a hydrodynamic Taylor-Couette system, uniform rotation or a rotation law with positive shear ("super-rotation") is linearly stable. It is also known that a conducting fluid under the presence of a sufficiently strong axial electric-current becomes unstable against nonaxisymmetric disturbances. It is thus suggestive that a cylindrical pinch formed by a homogeneous axial electric-current is stabilized by rotation laws with dO/dR >= 0. For magnetic Prandtl number Pm, 1 and for slow rotation, however, rigid rotation and super-rotation support the instability by lowering the critical Hartmann numbers. This double-diffusive instability of super-rotation even exists for toroidal magnetic fields with rather arbitrary radial profiles, the current-free profile B phi proportional to 1/R included. The sign of the azimuthal drift of the nonaxisymmetric hydromagnetic instability pattern strongly depends on the magnetic Prandtl number. The pattern counterrotates with the flow for Pm << 1 and it corotates for Pm >> 1 while for rotation laws with negative shear, the instability pattern migrates in the direction of the basic rotation for all Pm. An axial electric-current of minimal 3.6 kA flowing inside or outside the inner cylinder suffices to realize the double-diffusive instability for super-rotation in experiments using liquid sodium as the conducting fluid between the rotating cylinders. The limit is 11 kA if a gallium alloy is used. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.

The magnetohydrodynamic stability of axially unbounded cylindrical flows is considered which contain a toroidal magnetic background field with the same radial profile as the linear azimuthal velocity. Chandrasekhar (1956) has shown for ideal fluids the stability of this configuration if the Alfven velocity of the field equals the velocity of the background flow. It is demonstrated for magnetized Taylor-Couette flows at the Rayleigh line, however, that for finite diffusivity such flows become unstable against nonaxisymmetric perturbations where the critical magnetic Reynolds number of the rotation rate does not depend on the magnetic Prandtl number Pm if Pm much << 1. In order to study this new diffusive azimuthal magnetorotational instability, flows and fields with the same radial profile but with different amplitudes are considered. For Pm << 1 the instability domain with the weakest fields and the slowest rotation rates lies below the Chandrasekhar line of equal amplitudes for Alfven velocity and rotation velocity. We find that then the lines of marginal instability scale with the Reynolds number and the Hartmann number. The minimum values of the field strength and the rotation rate which are needed for the instability (slightly) grow for more and more flat rotation. Finally, the corresponding electric current of the background field becomes so strong that the Tayler instability (which even exists without rotation) also appears in the bifurcation map at small Hartmann numbers displacing after all the azimuthal magnetorotational instability.

With applications to inner solar-type radiative zones, a linear theory is used to analyse the instability of a toroidal background field of dipolar parity, in the presence of density stratification, differential rotation and realistically small Prandtl numbers. The physical parameters are the Alfven frequency Omega(A), the global rotation rate Omega and the buoyancy frequency N with Omega(A) < Omega < N. Only the solutions for the wavelengths with the maximal growth rates are considered. If these scales are combined to estimate radial velocities, one finds that it hardly depends on the latitudinal shear and the magnetic Mach number. In the formulation of Schatzman the radial mixing of chemicals can be estimated as Re* = O(100) which indeed is necessary to dissipate the lithium in the solar tachocline with a time-scale of 1 Gyr. The calculated growth rates indicate a destabilization of the system for growing latitudinal shear except for small Mach numbers and antisolar shear. The ratio epsilon of the magnetic and the kinetic energy of the instability pattern only slightly depends on the shear but a strong dependence on the magnetic Mach number exists with epsilon proportional to Mm(2). The effective magnetic Prandtl number reaches values O(10(3)) so that for the stars with high magnetic Mach number the differential rotation decays much faster than the toroidal background field.

With application to inner stellar radiative zones, a linear theory is used to analyze the instability of a dipole-parity toroidal background field, in the presence of density stratification, differential rotation, and realistically small Prandtl numbers. The physical parameters are the normalized latitudinal shear $a$ and the normalized field amplitude $b$. Only the solutions for the wavelengths with the maximal growth rates are considered. If these scales are combined to the radial values of velocity, one finds that the (very small) radial velocity only depends slightly on $a$ and $b$, so that it can be used as the free parameter of the eigenvalue system. The resulting instability-generated tensors of magnetic diffusivity and eddy viscosity are highly anisotropic. The eddy diffusivity in latitudinal direction exceeds the eddy diffusivity in radial direction by orders of magnitude. Its latitudinal profile shows a strong concentration toward the poles which is also true for the effective viscosity which has been calculated via the angular momentum transport of the instability pattern. The resulting effective magnetic Prandtl number reaches values of $O(10^2)$, so that the differential rotation decays much faster than the toroidal background field, which is {the} necessary condition to explain the observed slow rotation of the early red-giant and sub-giant cores by means of magnetic instabilities.

The azimuthal version of the magnetorotational instability (MRI) is a nonaxisymmetric instability of a hydrodynamically stable differentially rotating flow under the influence of a purely or predominantly azimuthal magnetic field. It may be of considerable importance for destabilizing accretion disks, and plays a central role in the concept of the MRI dynamo. We report the results of a liquid metal Taylor-Couette experiment that shows the occurrence of an azimuthal MRI in the expected range of Hartmann numbers.

The interaction of differential rotation and toroidal fields that are current-free in the gap between two corotating axially unbounded cylinders is considered. It is shown that non-axisymmetric perturbations are unstable if the rotation rate and Alfven frequency of the field are of the same order, almost independent of the magnetic Prandtl number Pm. For the very steep rotation law Omega proportional to R-2 (the Rayleigh limit) and for small Pm, the threshold values of rotation and field for this azimuthal magnetorotational instability (AMRI) scale with the ordinary Reynolds number and the Hartmann number, respectively. A laboratory experiment with liquid metals like sodium or gallium in a Taylor-Couette container has been designed on the basis of this finding. For fluids with more flat rotation laws, the Reynolds number and the Hartmann number are no longer typical quantities for the instability. For the weakly non-linear system, the numerical values of the kinetic energy and the magnetic energy are derived for magnetic Prandtl numbers <= 1. We find that the magnetic energy grows monotonically with the magnetic Reynolds number Rm, while the kinetic energy grows with Rm/root Pm. The resulting turbulent Schmidt number, as the ratio of the 'eddy' viscosity and the diffusion coefficient of a passive scalar (such as lithium), is of the order of 20 for Pm = 1, but for small Pm it drops to the order of unity. Hence, in a stellar core with fossil fields and steep rotation law, the transport of angular momentum by AMRI is always accompanied by an intense mixing of the plasma, until the rotation becomes rigid.