Magnetohydrodynamics

J.W.Haverkort April 2009

Abstract This summary of the basics of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) assumes the reader is acquainted with both uid mechanics and electrodynamics. The content is largely based on An introduction to Magnetohydrodynamics by P.A. Davidson. The basic equations of electrodynamics are summarized, the assumptions underlying MHD are exposed and a selection of aspects of the theory are discussed.

Contents
1 Electrodynamics 1.1 The governing equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 Faradays law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Magnetohydrodynamical Equations 2.1 The assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 The equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 Some more equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Concepts of Magnetohydrodynamics 3.1 Analogies between uid mechanics and MHD . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Dimensionless numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 Lorentz force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 7

1
1.1

Electrodynamics
The governing equations

The Maxwell equations for the electric and magnetic elds E and B in vacuum are written in terms of the sources e (electric charge density) and J (electric current density) e 0 B E= t B=0 E B = 0 J + 0 0 t E= Gausss law Faradays law No monopoles Amperes law (1) (2) (3) (4)

with 0 the electric permittivity and 0 the magnetic permeability of free space. The electric eld can be thought to consist of a static curl-free part Es = A V and an induced or in-stationary part Ei = t which is divergence-free, with V the electric potential and A the magnetic vector potential. The force on a charge q moving with velocity u is given by the Lorentz force f = q (E + u B). Moving along with a charge, however, the force f = q Er is proportional to the relative electric eld mEr so that one nds that non-relativistically the electric eld transforms as Er = E + u B where B = Br . Note that from f = q u B one can see that the magnetic eld is not a real vector, but a pseudo-vector: under a coordinate inversion x x both F and u change sign so that B can not. In the continuum limit the Lorentz force per unit volume becomes F = e E + J B (5)

Due to collisions an applied force will only lead to a nite current density. Assuming a linear relationship yields Ohms law: J = Er = (E + u B) (6)

We conclude this summary of the basic equations of electrodynamics by noting that the divergence of Amperes law yields the conservation of charge e (7) t and that by taking the divergence of Faradays law (/t)( B) = 0 which, if true relative to all sets of axes moving uniformly relative to one another, yields B = 0. J=

1.2

Faradays law

For a closed curve C around a surface S, moving in space with a prescribed velocity u the surface area swept out by a line element dl of the curve is given by S = dl dl = (u dl)t where dl = ut is the innitesimal displacement of the element dl in a time t. Therefore for any solenoidal vector eld G
S

G dS =
S

G dS t 2

u G tdl
C

(8)

such that with Stokes theorem it follows that d dt G dS =

S S

G (u G) dS t

(9)

This mathematical identity shows that the ux of G through the surface S can change either due to a change in G itself or due to a change in the surface area of S. Its physical relevance is that whenever a vector eld obeys the transport equation G/t = (u G) the ux through any material surface, i.e. moving along with the uid, is conserved. It also allows us to rewrite Faradays law to integral form, by adding (u B) to both sides of Eq. 2 to yield C (E + u B) dl = (d/dt) S B dS or, using the denition e.m.f. C Er dl: e.m.f =
C

Er d l =

d dt

B dS
S

(10)

Somewhat hidden in Faradays law thus lies the information that the e.m.f. in a closed loop can change either due to a time-varying magnetic eld, transformer e.m.f. due to Faradays law, or through a change in the surface area of the loop, motional e.m.f due to the way the electric eld transforms.

2
2.1

Magnetohydrodynamical Equations
The assumptions

Taking the divergence of Ohms law, Eq. 6, using conservation of Charge, Eq. 7, and inserting Gausss law, Eq. 1 yields e e + + (u B) = 0 with e = 0 / t e (11)

In a stationary conductor the charge density will therefore exponentially decay with a characteristic time-scale e = 0 / , which for a typical conductor is e 1018 s. If one is not interested in these very small time-scales, e /t can thus be neglected. Note that in steady state a moving conductor can maintain a small electric charge by magnetic forces: e = 0 (u B) = 0 (u B ( u) B) (12)

Where use has been made of a vector relation. Using Amperes law and Ohms law yields uE e = u 0 J B = B 0 (13)

with = 1/0 the magnetic diusivity and u the uid vorticity. From Eq. 12 e 0 uB/l, while Ohms law implies that usually E J/ . We thus nd for electric forces relative to magnetic forces e E/JB ue /l, which again involves the extremely small number e . Assuming the characteristic length scale l corresponding to (u B) is not too small, the electric force can therfore safely be neglected in the Lorentz force. This however does not mean that the presence of electric volume charges can be neglected altogether.

In the dynamics of the electric current density as stated by Ohms law it plays a signicant role, i.e. through the the electric eld it produces. Through the smallness of 0 = 8.85 1012 F/m a small charge can already create a signicant divergence in the electric eld that can act to prevent magnetic forces from creating a divergence in the current density, i.e. a change in the charge density. Because the current density directly enters the Lorentz force, volume charges can indirectly have an impact on the ow. Their direct inuence via the Lorentz force, however, can be safely neglected in magnetohydrodynamics. In a similar way we can do without the displacement current term in Amperes law (the 0 0 E/t term) because by Ohms law this term is 0 e J/t. Again, when we are not interested in the very small time-scales associated with charge equilibration: 0 e J/t 0 e (u B)/t 0 J we can neglect the displacement current. To summarize the assumptions behind magnetohydrodynamical theory: 1. One is not interested in the very small time-scales e = 0 / of charge equilibration such that e /t is neglected from the conservation of charge 2. The characteristic length-scale l corresponding to (u B) is assumed to be large enough such that e E/JB ue /l 1 and the electric force can be neglected in the Lorentz force 3. The current density J = (E + u B) varies on the equilibration time-scale e due to the fast dynamics of the electric eld E and on much longer timescales due to the macroscopic time-scales associated with the magnetic part u B. One neglects the fast dynamics 0 0 E/t 0 e J/t 0 J such that the displacement current can be neglected in Amperes law

2.2

The equations

The equations of magnetohydrodynamics thus contain the reduced Maxwell equations B with B = 0 (14) t and the Lorentz force density F = J B which is added as a body force to the Navier-Stokes equations for a Newtonian uid B = 0 J and E = Du = (p/) + 2 u + J B/ Dt (15)

2.3

Some more equations

Inserting Ohms law and the reduced Amperes equation into Faradays equation: B = E = (J/ u B) = (u B B/0 ) t

(16)

With B = 0 we have B = 2 B yielding, with = 1/0 the magnetic diusivity, the induction equation 4

B = (u B) + 2 B t Note the striking similarity with the vorticity equation:

(17)

= (u ) + 2 + (J B)/ (18) t We can therefore draw an analogy between the dynamics of the vorticity = u and the magnetic eld B = A or similarly between the uid velocity u and the magnetic vector potential A. If we uncurl Eq. 16 or Eq. 17 we get an equation equation for A very similar to the Navier-Stokes equations: A = + 2 A + u ( A) t (19)

3
3.1

Concepts of Magnetohydrodynamics
Analogies between uid mechanics and MHD

Note that the analogy between and B is not perfect, both by the occurrence of a source term in the vorticity equation which is absent in the induction equation, and by the fact that the vorticity is functionally related to u in a way that B is not. Furthermore through the uid velocity u the dynamics of and B is usually coupled. Alternatively through the Lorentz force in the Navier-Stokes equations and the magnetic part in Ohms law the dynamics of u and B is coupled. Similarities between the vorticity and the magnetic eld include that both are solenoidal, the vorticity by denition and the magnetic eld by one of the Maxwell equations. Another similarity is that both the magnetic eld and the vorticity are pseudo-vectors, due to the fact that they can be expressed as the curl of a real vector (the velocity and the magnetic vector potential respectively). We expand the curl-term in Eqs. 17 and 18 with G = B or solenoidal (u G) = (u )G + (G )u G( u). The rst term then denotes advection of G. The second term gives vortex stretching, i.e. the eect that when there is a positive velocity gradient in the uid (i.e. streamlines converge) in the direction of G this quantity intensies. Physically for the vorticity this is due to conservation of angular momentum. For the magnetic eld this is due to the conservation of magnetic ux. In highly conducting uids, the magnetic diusivity = 1/0 is negligible, such that in this case we can borrow some theorems from inviscid vortex dynamics. Kelvins theorem, which states that since = 0 Gausss law over a ux tube gives dS = 0. The ux of vorticity dS = Cm u dl , with the circulation or the strength of the vortex tube, is constant along the length of a vortex tube. This is because no ux crosses the side of the tube. This theorem directly follows from Eq. 9 and the inviscid vorticity 5

equation. For the magnetic eld the analogous theorem implies that the magnetic ux Sm B dS = Cm A dl linking any material loop co-moving with the uid, is constant. Note that this is essentially information already contained in Faradays law in integral form, Eq. 10, with Er = J/ 0 such that (d/dt) Sm B dS Helmholtzs rst law, which states that uid elements continue to lie on the same vortex line, i.e. the vortex lines are frozen into the uid. This result follows from the rate of change of an innitesimal line element dl which moves with the uid: Ddl/Dt = u(x + dl) u(x) = (dl )u. This is the same equation of motion as for the vorticity in case the uid is incompressible, proving the theorem. For the magnetic eld the analogous theorem implies that for an incompressible uid the uid elements continue to lie on the same magnetic eld lines, i.e. the eld lines are frozen into the uid. The analogues of Kelvins theorem and Helmholtzs rst theorem for the magnetic eld are collectively called Alfv ens theorem. Furthermore the concept of helicity from uid mechanics can be extended to MHD Using the inviscid and incompressible Navier-Stokes and vorticity equation, the material derivative of the quantity u can be written as D(u )/Dt = Du/Dt + D /Dt u = (p/) + ( u) u = ((u2 /2 p/) ) such that the quantity h V u dV = S (u2 /2 p/) dS is conserved in time for any material volume V for which dS = 0. Note that indeed in ows with non-zero helicity uid particles move in a spiralling helical motion. Evaluating for two vortex tubes the helicity in all space h = (u )dV = C1 +C2 u( dSdl) = 2 i=1 i Ci udl. If the two ux tubes are linked C1 u dl = 2 and C2 u dl = 1 such that the helicity h = 21 2 but if they are not linked h = 0 such that the helicity is a direct measure of the topology of the vortex tubes. By an analogous derivation it follows from the ideal induction equation ( = 0) and ideal Eq. 19 that the magnetic helicity hm VB A BdV is conserved, showing the conservation of both the ux and topology of the ux tubes. When the uid under consideration is both inviscid ( = 0) and ideal ( = 0) a similar derivation, using the inviscid Navier-Stokes equation and the ideal induction equation, shows the conservation of cross-helicity VB B udV , representing the degree of linkage of the vortex and magnetic eld lines. Sometimes in nearly ideal uids the ux tubes get so twisted that the gradients become large enough to have some diusion in spite of the smallness of . Magnetic eld lines can then cross and reconnect, a process called magnetic reconnection. Although an interesting and sometimes important phenomena, in nearly ideal uids the conservation of eld line topology is a very useful and accurate representation.

3.2

Dimensionless numbers

By adding a body force to the Navier-Stokes equation, one adds an extra dimensionless number to the familiar Reynolds number. The characteristic ratio

between the Lorentz force term and inertia is given by the interaction parameter, or Stuart number: N= |J B| B 2 l Ha2 = = |u u| u Re (20)

Here the dimensionless Hartmann number Ha alternatively gives the characteristic ratio between Lorentz forces and viscous forces Ha = |J B| = Bl | 2 u| = NRe (21)

In the induction equation on the other hand a magnetic Reynolds number can be dened as the characteristic ratio between the advection and diusion term Rem = | (u B)| ul = = 0 ul |2 B| (22)

Using as a characteristic velocity scale the Alfv en speed vA this quantity is called the Lundqvist number Lu such that the ratio of the two gives the Alfv en Mach number Rem /Lu = v/vA = MA . Using the values 4 107 kg/m3 (n 1020 m3 ), 2.4 109 S/m (40 times that of copper), l 4 m, B 4 T, u 105 m/s (M0.15), and 1m2 /s (neoclassical), typical values for an ITER-like tokamak, yield N 4 1012 , Re 4 105 , Ha 109 and Rem 109 (23)

( 3 104 m2 /s). We thus see that Lorentz forces there are much larger than inertial forces (N 1) and that inertial forces are in turn much larger than viscous forces (Re 1). In the induction equation non-ideal eects can safely be neglected (Rem 1). Note that the used numerical values, especially the characteristic velocity and viscosity, are highly speculative and vary widely depending on the situation. E.g. there are orders of magnitude between the classical, neoclassical and turbulent viscosity. The velocity depends heavily on the heating techniques used. Other values than macroscopic lengths and velocities might also be more suitable depending on the situation.

3.3

Lorentz force

The Lorentz force J B can, with J = B/0 and the use of a mathematical identity, be rewritten to J B = (B )B B2 20 (24)

which can be written in terms of a Maxwell stress tensor T J B = T with T = 1 B2 BB I 0 20 (25)

where the second term is the magnetic pressure and the rst are called Faraday or Maxwell tensions in the eld lines. The latter terminology arises

1 BB dS is zero on the sides of ux from the fact that the resulting force dF = 0 tubes. At the ends of eld lines these tensile stresses cause a non-zero tension force on the ux tubes. By Gausss law the body force on a uid element can be thought of as the surface integrated eect of these stresses and pressure. Going back to the concept of a body force on uid elements one can decompose the anisotropic part of J B in tangential and normal curvilinear coordinates attached to a eld line

B2 B t n e e (26) s R with R the local radius of curvature of the eld line. We note that this decomposition is equal to that which can be made of the non-linear advection term (u )u in the Navier-Stokes equations, apart from an important dierence in sign. The rst term is in this case a force opposing acceleration associated with inertia, i.e. acceleration of a uid element. The second term is then the centripetal force directed outwards. The terms in Eq. 26 represent respectively an accelerating force whenever the magnetic eld increases along a eld line and an inwards force when the eld lines are curved. These forces have important implications for the stability of a plasma. Whereas the inertial force opposes acceleration, the rst component in Eq. 26 causes acceleration in the direction of increasing magnetic eld strength. The second component acts to straighten the magnetic eld lines, in accordance with the idea of tensile stresses acting on the ends of eld lines. In terms of these stresses the force in the direction of larger magnetic eld arises due the dierence in magnitude between the opposing stresses on the ends of eld lines. (B )B = B In summary, the Lorentz force on the uid can be thought of as resulting from the magnetic eld lines being under tension. As these eld lines are to some extent frozen into the uid these tensions thereby act as a body force on the uid. As as result the eld lines may act similar to a string under tension and cause wave motion called Alfv en waves, where the necessary inertia is provided by the uid.