Hall magnetohydrodynamics (Hall MHD)

Hall magnetohydrodynamics retains bulk ion inertia but freezes magnetic flux into the electron velocity ${\mathbf{u}}_e=\mathbf{u}-\mathbf{j}/(en)$. With constant density, negligible electrical resistivity and electron inertia, Gaussian units give $\mathbf{j}=c\nabla \times \mathbf{B}/(4\pi )$ and ${\partial }_t\mathbf{B}=\nabla \times [(\mathbf{u}-c\nabla \times \mathbf{B}/(4\pi en))\times \mathbf{B}]$. The ion velocity still satisfies the magnetohydrodynamic momentum equation. Neglecting that velocity gives electron magnetohydrodynamics, a further approximation rather than a synonym for the complete Hall system.

For field amplitudes of order the guide field, the ion Lorentz-force response over time $\tau$ is $\Delta u/v_A=O(v_A\tau /l)\ll 1$. The electron-current velocity is of order $v_A{d}_i/l$, larger than a bulk velocity of order $v_A$. Thus the leading Hall magnetohydrodynamics induction equation becomes the closed electron magnetohydrodynamics equation, while ions remain fixed to leading order on this fast scale. The first nonzero ion response need not have zero acceleration. This limit retains the fast branch of incompressible Hall-MHD wave dispersion, not the slow branch; very oblique modes must separately satisfy the fast-time ordering.

For a uniform guide field, write the transverse perturbation in velocity units as $\mathbf{b}$. Linear momentum gives $\omega \mathbf{u}=-k_{\parallel }{v}_A\mathbf{b}$. Linear induction gives $\omega \mathbf{b}=-k_{\parallel }{v}_A\mathbf{u}+i{k}_{\parallel }{v}_A{d}_i\mathbf{k}\times \mathbf{b}$. The helicity decomposition of a transverse Fourier mode then yields the displayed dispersion relation. Its two positive frequency magnitudes are $|k_{\parallel }|v_A[\sqrt{1+(k{d}_i{)}^2/4}\pm k{d}_i/2]$, approaching the Alfvén wave frequency for $k{d}_i\ll 1$. For $k{d}_i\gg 1$, the fast branch is a whistler wave and the slow branch tends to $|k_{\parallel }|v_A/(k{d}_i)$.