An antidynamo theorem is any of several results in the physics of magnetism that restrict the kinds of magnetic fields a self-sustaining dynamo process can generate. Thomas Cowling's 1934 antidynamo theorem shows that no axisymmetric magnetic field can be maintained by dynamo action driven by an axially symmetric current, while Yakov Zeldovich's 1957 antidynamo theorem shows that a purely two-dimensional, planar flow likewise cannot sustain dynamo action. Together these theorems rule out the simplest, most symmetric field configurations as possible products of a self-sustaining dynamo.
Facts
StatementNo axisymmetric magnetic field can be maintained indefinitely by a self-sustaining dynamo driven by an axially symmetric electric current. Thomas Cowling proved the result in 1934, in a study of sunspot magnetic fields. 1 Classification
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Source Antidynamo Theorem (Wikipedia)
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1. Antidynamo Theorem (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead paragraph, second sentence
One notable example is Thomas Cowling's antidynamo theorem which states that no axisymmetric magnetic field can be maintained through a self-sustaining dynamo action by an axially symmetric current.
In Group: Electromagnetism, Optics and Continuum Mechanics, Lead section
is one of several results that restrict the type of magnetic fields that may be produced by dynamo action.
In Branch: Mathematical Physics, Lead section
In physics and in particular in the theory of magnetism, an antidynamo theorem is one of several results
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