Experimental evidence for magnetorotational instability in a Taylor-Couette flow under the influence of a helical magnetic field

A recent Letter [R. Hollerbach and G. Rüdiger, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 124501 (2005)] has shown that the threshold for the onset of the magnetorotational instability in a Taylor-Couette flow is dramatically reduced if both axial and azimuthal magnetic fields are imposed. In agreement with this predicti...

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Published inPhysical review letters Vol. 97; no. 18; p. 184502
Main Authors Stefani, Frank, Gundrum, Thomas, Gerbeth, Gunter, Rüdiger, Günther, Schultz, Manfred, Szklarski, Jacek, Hollerbach, Rainer
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 03.11.2006
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Summary:A recent Letter [R. Hollerbach and G. Rüdiger, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 124501 (2005)] has shown that the threshold for the onset of the magnetorotational instability in a Taylor-Couette flow is dramatically reduced if both axial and azimuthal magnetic fields are imposed. In agreement with this prediction, we present results of a Taylor-Couette experiment with the liquid metal alloy GaInSn, showing evidence for the existence of the magnetorotational instability at Reynolds numbers of order 1000 and Hartmann numbers of order 10.
ISSN:0031-9007
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.97.184502