Magnetostrophic balance as the optimal state for turbulent magnetoconvection

The magnetic fields of Earth and other planets are generated by turbulent convection in the vast oceans of liquid metal within them. Although direct observation is not possible, this liquid metal circulation is thought to be dominated by the controlling influences of planetary rotation and magnetic fields through the Coriolis and Lorentz forces. Theory famously predicts that planetary dynamo systems naturally settle into the so-called magnetostrophic state, where the Coriolis and Lorentz forces partially cancel, and convection is optimally efficient. Although this magnetostrophic theory correctly predicts the strength of Earth's magnetic field, no laboratory experiments have reached the magnetostrophic regime in turbulent liquid metal convection. Furthermore, computational dynamo simulations have as yet failed to produce a magnetostrophic dynamo, which has led some to question the existence of the magnetostrophic state. Here, we present results from the first, to our knowledge, turbulent, magnetostrophic convection experiments using the liquid metal gallium. We find that turbulent convection in the magnetostrophic regime is, in fact, maximally efficient. The experimental results clarify these previously disparate results, suggesting that the dynamically optimal magnetostrophic state is the natural expression of turbulent planetary dynamo systems.