9 research outputs found
Magnetohydrodynamic equilibria of a cylindrical plasma with poloidal mass flow and arbitrary cross section shape
The equilibrium of a cylindrical plasma with purely poloidal mass flow and
cross section of arbitrary shape is investigated within the framework of the
ideal MHD theory. For the system under consideration it is shown that only
incompressible flows are possible and, conscequently, the general two
dimensional flow equilibrium equations reduce to a single second-order
quasilinear partial differential equation for the poloidal magnetic flux
function , in which four profile functionals of appear. Apart from
a singularity occuring when the modulus of Mach number associated with the
Alfv\'en velocity for the poloidal magnetic field is unity, this equation is
always elliptic and permits the construction of several classes of analytic
solutions. Specific exact equlibria for a plasma confined within a perfectly
conducting circular cylindrical boundary and having i) a flat current density
and ii) a peaked current density are obtained and studied.Comment: Accepted to Plasma Physics & Controlled Fusion, 14 pages, revte