Fluid Dynamics and Dynamos in Astrophysics and Geophysics

Reviews the status of the field of astrophysical fluid dynamics. This book includes such topics as Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), including MHD turbulence, the dynamo problem, and some laboratory experiments. It illustrates the symbiotic relation between theory and observation.

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The increasing power of computer resources along with great improvements in observational data in recent years have led to some remarkable and rapid advances in astrophysical fluid dynamics. The subject spans three distinct but overlapping communities whose interests focus on (1) accretion discs and high-energy astrophysics; (2) solar, stellar, and galactic magnetic fields; and (3) the geodynamo, planetary magnetic fields, and associated experiments. This book grew out of a special conference sponsored by the London Mathematical Society with the support of EPSRC that brought together leading researchers in all of these areas to exchange ideas and review the status of the field.

The many interesting problems addressed in this volume concern: