Material transport of magnetic helicity density

ID: material-transport-of-magnetic-helicity-density

For smooth ideal magnetohydrodynamics, write and . The continuity equation and induction equation give . The vector-potential equation becomes . Contracting these two equations cancels their velocity-gradient terms and proves
Consequently the magnetic helicity in a material volume satisfies . It is conserved when the magnetic field is tangent to the boundary. A single-valued gauge transformation changes by , which also vanishes under that condition.

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