Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2015/iii/paper-60/1/i/solution

In SI units, magnetostatic equilibrium without gravity is . For a purely axial magnetic field, the magnetic tension term vanishes. Thus the radial balance is
Matching the magnetohydrodynamic total pressure to the field-free exterior gives the gas pressure and axial field bound:
The inequality follows directly from nonnegative gas pressure. It is the magnetic pressure limit for an untwisted flux tube, without inward hoop tension.

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