ABSTRACT: Global-scale planetary magnetic fields are generated by so-called dynamo action in electrically-conducting planetary interior fluid regions.  These dynamos are powered by turbulent convection in the molten metals.  To better understand this processes, my lab (across the quad) carries out laboratory experimental simulations of rotating magnetoconvection, often coupled to direct numerical simulations. In this talk, which I will aim at advanced undergraduates and graduate students, I will go over the basics of planetary magnetic field observations and theory, and then discuss our laboratory-numerical efforts to better understand planetary-style magneto-turbulence.

BIOSKETCH: Professor Jon Aurnou has been at UCLA since 2002, where his group has been modeling how large scale structures, be they hydrodynamic or magnetohydrodynamic, emerge from relatively small-scale turbulence in planetary and stellar systems.  In addition, his group has been developing hands-on desktop demonstrations of large-scale climate dynamics, to allow students at all levels to better engage and understand the world around us.