Convection-driven dynamos in a rotating plane layer

The plane layer Childress-Soward dynamo model, consisting of a rotating lay er of electrically conducting fluid between horizontal planes heated from b elow, is studied. Solutions periodic in the horizontal directions are sough t, with electrically insulating boundary conditions applied. The large Pran dtl number limit is used. Fully three-dimensional convection-driven dynamos have been studied numeric ally for this problem. Both the kinematic and the magnetically saturated re gimes are studied, and a simple model of the dynamo mechanism is proposed. The dependence of the dynamo on the Rayleigh number, Ekman number and diffu sivity ratio is studied, and the role of Taylor's constraint in low Ekman n umber convection-driven dynamos is considered.