 Linear Alfvén wave equations

Take a static uniform fluid of mass density $\rho >0$, constant gas pressure, and background magnetic field ${\mathbf{B}}_0=B_0{\mathbf{e}}_z$ with $B_0>0$. Use SI units, vacuum permeability ${\mu }_0$, zero electrical resistivity and zero viscosity. Write $\mathbf{B}={\mathbf{B}}_0+{\mathbf{b}}_{\perp }(z,t)$ and $\mathbf{u}={\mathbf{u}}_{\perp }(z,t)$, with both disturbances perpendicular to ${\mathbf{e}}_z$. Retain only linear order in their amplitudes. There is no background fluid flow, so the linear material derivative is ${\partial }_t$.

The continuity equation has $\nabla \cdot {\mathbf{u}}_{\perp }=0$, hence ${\partial }_t\delta \rho =0$; choosing no initial mass density fluctuation gives $\delta \rho =0$. For this shear mode the gas pressure fluctuation is also zero. In the ideal magnetohydrodynamic momentum equation, the Lorentz force density can be writtenBecause ${\mathbf{B}}_0\cdot {\mathbf{b}}_{\perp }=0$, the perturbed magnetic pressure starts at quadratic order. The surviving transverse magnetic tension gives the first equation below. Expanding the ideal magnetohydrodynamic induction equation gives the second:Differentiate the first in time and substitute the second. Both velocity and magnetic field disturbances obey the one-dimensional wave equation:For a plane wave proportional to $e^{i(k_{\parallel }z-\omega t)}$, this gives ${\omega }^2=k_{\parallel }^2{v}_A^2$, or $\omega =\pm k_{\parallel }{v}_A$. The magnetic and velocity amplitudes satisfy ${\mathbf{b}}_{\perp }=-(B_0{k}_{\parallel }/\omega ){\mathbf{u}}_{\perp }$: they have opposite signs for propagation along $+{\mathbf{e}}_z$ and equal signs for propagation along $-{\mathbf{e}}_z$. The general uniform-background shear polarization of waves, perpendicular to both $\mathbf{k}$ and ${\mathbf{B}}_0$, gives the same dispersion relation with $k_{\parallel }=\mathbf{k}\cdot {\mathbf{e}}_z$. Its group velocity is $\pm v_A{\mathbf{e}}_z$, whereas its phase velocity normal to an oblique wavefront has magnitude $v_A|k_{\parallel }|/|\mathbf{k}|$.