Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2026/iii/paper-314/4/e/solution

Ideal flux freezing anchors a field line in the highly conducting disc, so its field-line angular velocity naturally equals the angular velocity of its footpoint. A circular orbit in the central potential is Keplerian:
Put and expand
The linear radial term vanishes because . The radial and vertical second derivatives are respectively and , so
If the field line makes angle from the vertical, then locally . Its quadratic potential change is
which is negative exactly when
This is the local magnetocentrifugal acceleration launching criterion.

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