Statistical properites and clustering of dynamo reversals observed from paleomagnetic records, experimental dynamo, numerical simulations and simplified models

The statistical properites of the time sequence of the geodynamo reversals show interesting features, such as non-poisson statistics indicating presence of correlations, and clustering in time. Such properties can be used to compare the observed reversals sequence with different dynamos, both experimental and numerical. In this work an experimental Bullard-Von Karman dynamo, which reproduces the field reversal, is studied in comparison with the paleomagnetic data. Moreover, some numerical models (namely an alpha-alpha dynamo, a turbulent dynamo, a dissipative Rikitake dynamo, and a shell model MHD dynamo) are characaterized, and their capacity of reproducing the observed clustering properties are discussed, also allowing the fine tuning of the models parameters.