Special TAPIR Seminar
Magnetic fields pervade the universe and are manifest in diverse astrophysical systems. The turbulent dynamo is the most promising mechanism to account for the growth and maintenance of the cosmic magnetism. While significant theoretical work has been done over the years, the small-scale turbulent dynamo is far from being well understood. Do the dynamo-generated magnetic fields have large-scale structures? Is the turbulent dynamo during the formation of the first stars efficient? Besides presenting our understanding of these problems, I will introduce the new dynamo regimes that we identified in different astrophysical conditions, and their important implications for e.g., the growth of magnetic fields in the partially ionized interstellar medium and shock acceleration of Galactic cosmic rays.