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A field theoretical treatment of magnetohydrodynamics

University of British Columbia

The action principle of field theory, usually applied only to linear theories, such as electrodynamics, is shown to be useful in the nonlinear theory of magnetohydrodynamics The well-known conservation laws are derived by utilization of invariance properties of the appropirate lagrangian In addition, a set of new conservation laws, corresponding to generalizations of the Helmholtz vortex theorem in hydrodynamics, are obtained by exploiting a certain type of gauge invariance of the magnetohydrodynamical action integral A number of formal simplifications are introduced which suggest themselves through the action principle Three problems which illustrate the resulting formulation of magnetohydrodynamics are discussed

Text

2011-11-07

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/38797

Physics

University of British Columbia

Graduate