Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1707753 | Applied Mathematics Letters | 2015 | 5 Pages |
Abstract
The formation of a current sheet in a weakly collisional plasma can be modelled as a finite-time singularity solution of magnetohydrodynamic equations. We use an exact self-similar solution to confirm and generalise a previous finding that, in sharp contrast to two-dimensional solutions in standard MHD, a finite-time collapse to a current sheet can occur in Hall MHD. We derive a criterion for the finite-time singularity in terms of initial conditions, and we use an intermediate asymptotic solution for the evolution of an axial magnetic field to obtain a general expression for the singularity formation time. We illustrate the analytical results by numerical solutions.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Engineering
Computational Mechanics
Authors
Yuri E. Litvinenko, Liam C. McMahon,