Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2007/iii/paper-68/2/i/solution

Here is the thermal expansion coefficient and is the mass density. Let , , , and , the squared Alfvén frequency. We initially consider a nonzero frequency. The temperature and magnetic equations for a Fourier mode give
In particular, the minus sign in the magnetic relation follows from . Substitution into the magnetohydrodynamic momentum equation, with , gives
For incompressible flow, . Taking the vertical component of the curl eliminates pressure and gives, with ,
Taking another curl and its vertical component uses and . Thus
or, after eliminating temperature,
The two equations for vertical velocity and vertical vorticity have a nontrivial solution only when their determinant vanishes. This proves the stratified magneto-Coriolis wave dispersion relation
No division by was necessary, so a possible is retained. Division by , however, was necessary. Stationary disturbances must be checked directly in the original equations: for example, with , and an appropriate solenoidal magnetic perturbation can balance temperature-induced buoyancy and pressure. Such static balances are separate from the nonzero-frequency wave branches.

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