High magnetic shear gain in a liquid sodium stable couette flow experiment A prelude to an alpha - omega dynamo

The {Omega}-phase of the liquid sodium {alpha}-{Omega} dynamo experiment at NMIMT in cooperation with LANL has successfully demonstrated the production of a high toroidal field, B{sub {phi}} {approx_equal} 8 x B{sub r} from the radial component of an applied poloidal magnetic field, B{sub r}. This enhanced toroidal field is produced by rotational shear in stable Couette Row within liquid sodium at Rm {approx_equal} 120. The small turbulence in stable Taylor-Couette Row is caused by Ekman Row where ({delta}v/v){sup 2} {approx} 10{sup -3}. This high {Omega}-gain in low turbulence flow contrasts with a smaller {Omega}-gain in higher turbulence, Helmholtz-unstable shear flows. This result supports the ansatz that large scale astrophysical magnetic fields are created within semi-coherent large scale motions in which turbulence plays a diffusive role that enables magnetic flux linkage.