Magnetoconvection

N. O. Weiss is Emeritus Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Clare College. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and a former President of the Royal Astronomical Society, which awarded him a Gold Medal in 2007. His research has centred on astrophysical fluid dynamics and especially on nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic interactions between convection and magnetic fields in the Sun and other stars, as well as in the Earth. M. R. E. Proctor is Professor of Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics at the University of Cambridge and Provost of King's College, having been for many years a Fellow of Trinity College. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Institute of Mathematics and Applications. His early research was concerned with nonlinear models of the geomagnetic field. More recently he has contributed to a number of research areas, including dynamical systems and pattern formation, solar dynamo theory and the interactions of magnetic fields and convection in the Sun.

'The book is foremost a lucid exposition of complementary analysis procedures that lead to an intuition and understanding of convection linked to magnetism in diverse settings. These certainly include the surface and interiors of stars, but so too magnetism built by convection in the molten cores of planets, and likely also in accretion disks. Access to this book provides the broad perspective that both young and mature researchers entering these areas should possess, and the book would serve well also in graduate courses in astrophysical and geophysical fluid dynamics … this is a lovely book that does justice to a double-diffusive system of very considerable interest.' Juri Toomre, Geophysical and Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics

• Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. Basic MHD; 3. Linearized Boussinesq magnetoconvection; 4. The nonlinear regime; 5. 2D Boussinesq magnetoconvection; 6. 3D Boussinesq magnetoconvection; 7. Magnetoconvection, rotation and the dynamo; 8. Compressible magnetoconvection; 9. Solar and stellar magnetic fields; Appendix A. The Boussinesq and anelastic approximations; Appendix B. Chaotic systems; Appendix C. Double-diffusive convection; Appendix D. Magnetic buoyancy and the magneto-Boussinesq approximation; References; Index.