Vorticity and magnetic helicity in the context of astrophysical dynamos

Description
In this talk I will present two of my recent works related to the study of astrophysical dynamos. I will speak about a study of the generation of vorticity in the interstellar medium. It is known that supernovae explosions are the most powerful events in the interstellar medium. In a first approximation these events can be described as spherical explosions. Nevertheless they are able to generate turbulence and vorticity. Using numerical simulation I have then analyzed how physical effects like rotation,shear and baroclinicity can drive the generation of vorticity in a irrotationally forced flow. I will also present a work on some topological aspects of magnetic hellicity. I have studied numerically the evolution of a system in which the initial configuration of the magnetic field is that of interlocked rings. The results that have been obtained show how the initial value of magnetic helicity affects the time-evolution of the field.
Organised by Alessandro Costa