AM Seminar: Dynamo Action Inside the Giant Planets

Presenter: Dr. Paula Wulff, UCLA

Description: Our solar system hosts six unique planetary magnetic fields. Intrinsic magnetic fields are generated deep inside planets by dynamo action. This process requires regions of electrically conducting material and energy sources to maintain the dynamo. Thus, we can learn about the deep interiors of planets, including their structures and dynamics, by investigating their magnetic fields. In this talk, I’ll explore some of the interesting questions and possible answers about planetary interiors that have come from studies of planetary magnetism, in particular through 3-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations.

Bio: Paula Wulff completed her PhD with Uli Christensen at the Max-Planck-Institute for Solar System Science, in Goettingen, Germany, after her undergrad at Cambridge (UK). While working with Uli, she studied zonal flows on Gas Giants, in particular on Jupiter. She used the gravity measurements made by Juno to infer their depth, and numerical modelling to investigate their truncation mechanism at depth. After her PhD, she moved to California to work with Hao Cao and Jon Aurnou at UCLA’s EPSS department. During the postdoc she has continued to work on 3-D MHD modelling to study the dynamo mechanisms in the interiors of various planets in our solar system.

Hosted by: Professor Julie Simons