Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 69 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Statistical homogeneity makes the two-point correlation depend on the displacement . Substituting the Fourier transforms and changing variables from to givesThe last integral is a Dirac delta function, soThe plus sign occurs because neither Fourier transform has undergone complex conjugation. For a real magnetic field, the version with instead has . Homogeneity determines dependence on the displacement vector; dependence only on its norm needs statistical isotropy as well.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 69 1 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write the transverse displacement as and take the common line-of-sight interval to be . The rotation measure is a line integral of the magnetic field, so its correlation isSubstitute the Fourier inversion of the solenoidal isotropic spectral tensor. Keeping the finite observation length gives the exact windowed expressionThe allowed extension of the longitudinal displacement integral to the whole real line is the long-path projection of a magnetic correlation. It applies when is much larger than the correlation length: equivalently, the squared window becomes inside the integral. The Dirac delta function sets , leavingStatistical isotropy makes this a function of . The displayed two-dimensional relation is the intended long-path approximation; the preceding windowed formula accounts for finite-length edge effects.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 69 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Put and retain terms linear in . The electron magnetohydrodynamics induction equation becomesHere the curl of reduces to , since the background magnetic field is constant and the divergence of a curl vanishes. For a plane wave , the linear equation and the solenoidal constraint areOn the transverse plane, the operator has eigenvalues by the helicity decomposition of a transverse Fourier mode. Equivalently, squaring the equation and using the vector triple product gives . Since , where is the Alfvén speed and the ion skin depth,The two branches have opposite circular polarizations. The specified electron-only induction model describes a whistler wave; the paper calls these branches kinetic Alfvén waves. The following cascade calculation uses the specified model and its dispersion relation, without adding the pressure response needed for the usual kinetic Alfvén interpretation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 69 3 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Multiply the Fokker-Planck equation by and integrate over and all , assuming the required boundary terms vanish. Integration by parts givesThe mixed moment is not determined by : the current strain and the accumulated magnetic field are correlated. Zero mean strain does not imply , so this is an unclosed moment equation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 70 2 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Put and define . Direct cylindrical differentiation givesThe azimuthal component of the Lorentz force is proportional to . A force-free magnetic field therefore has parallel meridional gradients of and , implying on connected regular flux surfaces. ConsequentlyWith this dependence the poloidal part of is . Its full cross product with isVanishing force therefore requires wherever the flux gradient is nonzero, extending by regularity through ordinary isolated nulls. Finally, evaluating the three-dimensional cylindrical divergence gives , soThis derives the Grad-Shafranov equation for a force-free magnetic field. The function is set by boundary/current information; it is not an additional fixed constant. Its single-valued global form presumes the usual connected flux-surface labeling. The equation also makes , explicitly showing that current is parallel to the magnetic field.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 74 1 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write for the material derivative. The resistive induction equation, together with the solenoidal conditions on both fields, isSince , the product rule givesAlso . Substitution proves the radial magnetic induction scalar equation:
In the insulating exterior the quasistatic magnetic field is current-free, so and . Thus and for , with decay at infinity for an isolated field. This is an instantaneous exterior Laplace equation, rather than a diffusion equation with the interior value of .
Use the usual nonmagnetic-interface assumptions: equal magnetic permeability on both sides and no surface current. The electromagnetic boundary conditions then make and the tangential magnetic field continuous. Hence is continuous. In spherical coordinates, the solenoidal magnetic-field constraint readswhere the last term is the angular divergence on the unit sphere. Its right-hand side is also continuous, giving the insulating boundary condition for the radial magnetic scalar:Equivalently, the decaying exterior degree- spherical harmonic is proportional to , so its boundary amplitude satisfies .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 74 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let denote the spatial average. Assume periodicity, or an equivalent homogeneous averaging limit in which total derivatives average to zero and integration by parts is valid. Fix the induced field to have zero mean. Expand the solution of the resistive induction equation in small magnetic Reynolds number:The uniform test magnetic field commutes with differentiation. Since , the first equation has solution .
The quadratic second-order forcing need not be monochromatic, so one must not simply replace its inverse Laplacian by multiplication by . Instead use the self-adjointness of the Laplacian under the average:This proves the monochromatic small-Reynolds-number mean electromotive force expansion
For the symmetry of the first-order monochromatic alpha tensor, writeIts antisymmetric part is determined by contraction with the Levi-Civita symbol. The contraction identity givesThe second term vanishes by incompressibility; the first is . Since every three-dimensional antisymmetric second-rank tensor is equivalent to its contracted axial vector, is symmetric. No Fourier series or Fourier transform is required.
To derive the next identity, set . Expanding the curl and cross product in components,The average of the second term is zero: integration by parts makes it . Integrating the first term by parts givesExtracting the coefficient of now yieldsInterchanging and reverses the cross product, proving the antisymmetry of the second-order monochromatic alpha tensor:The second coefficient of the alpha tensor can therefore contribute turbulent magnetic pumping, while its symmetric part vanishes at this order.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 74 3 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Set in the horizontal-field magnetoconvection dispersion relation. With positive and nonzero , cancellation gives the stationary neutral curveAt fixed , the Chandrasekhar number contributes a nonnegative penalty proportional to . It can be eliminated by choosing . It remains to minimize for :The function diverges at both endpoints and has its unique minimum at . Thus the magnetic-field-aligned rolls evade steady magnetic inhibition:independently of . If higher vertical sine modes are included, replacing by gives minimum , so the displayed first vertical mode also gives the smallest steady threshold.
Physically, these convection rolls have axes along the imposed magnetic field. Their perturbations are independent of , so in the resistive induction equation and no growing magnetic perturbation is generated. The flow does not bend the field; consequently magnetic tension cannot inhibit these rolls, however large the field strength. This conclusion concerns the requested steady disturbances.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 74 3 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be the reference mass density, the kinematic viscosity, the thermal diffusivity, the magnetic diffusivity, and the coefficient of thermal expansion. The conductive state of Rayleigh-Bénard convection is . For the Boussinesq approximation, density variation is retained only in buoyancy. Linearizing about this state and the imposed magnetic field givesHere and is the perturbation of magnetohydrodynamic total pressure. The gradient part of the Lorentz force has been absorbed into ; the remaining term is magnetic tension. The sign in the temperature equation follows from .
Use the thermal-diffusion scaling of a convection layer: length , time , velocity , temperature perturbation , field perturbation , and total-pressure perturbation . Dropping dimensionless-variable decorations giveswithThese are respectively the Rayleigh number, Chandrasekhar number, Prandtl number, and magnetic-to-thermal diffusivity ratio. In particular, the magnetic coefficient is , not alone, in these thermal-time units. At , the boundary conditions are , , and .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 74 3 iv Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For disturbances varying only along the imposed magnetic field, set and . The steady horizontal-field magnetoconvection dispersion relation becomesExpand it in powers of :Its derivative and second derivative areBecause diverges as and , the unique minimum is determined byFor large Chandrasekhar number, this equation first gives and hence the requested strong-field steady magnetoconvection varying along the field selection law:
For the threshold through order unity, the leading contribution at its optimum is . More precisely, the stationary equation givesThe correction to has no first-order contribution because that expression is already stationary at its leading minimizer. Also and . ThereforeThe constant term must be retained. This restricted family bends magnetic field lines, so its large stationary threshold is compatible with the unrestricted field-aligned minimum in the preceding part.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 74 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write for the squared isothermal sound speed, distinguishing the gas constant from a Rayleigh number, and put . A uniform magnetic field has no bulk Lorentz force, so hydrostatic equilibrium and the ideal gas equation giveAt the interface, it is magnetohydrodynamic total pressure, not gas pressure alone, that is continuous:Define . The magnetic pressure discontinuity in an isothermal atmosphere therefore producesIn particular, the upper gas is denser at the interface. Both halves have the same scale height , despite their different pressure normalizations.
For the disturbance calculation, write , , where , and . Work to leading order in the prescribed short-vertical-scale approximation: the bulk motion is locally incompressible potential flow, while the isothermal equation determines the equilibrium density jump. Its scale separation and small compressive correction will be checked at the maximizing mode.
Let the interface displacement be and . Using displacement rather than velocity potentials, write and . Incompressibility and irrotational flow give . Decay away from the interface and continuity of its normal displacement fixwith the common horizontal and temporal exponential understood. Both satisfy . Thus the disturbance has vertical extent of order .
In ideal magnetohydrodynamics, magnetic flux freezing gives for these locally incompressible displacements. If is the total-pressure perturbation, linear momentum isSince on the mode, integration in each half-space yieldsAt the displaced interface, continuity of Lagrangian magnetohydrodynamic total pressure requires . Inserting the two potentials gives the orthogonal-field magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor dispersion relation:The first term is the destabilizing Rayleigh-Taylor instability of the heavier upper gas; the second is stabilizing magnetic tension. A negative right-hand side gives an oscillatory mode rather than growth.
For fixed , the magnetic penalty isIt is minimized by : the wavevector is along the weaker upper magnetic field and perpendicular to the stronger lower field. If , define and . The growth law for this orientation is , a concave quadratic with maximum at . HenceFor this orientation the unstable interval is ; the maximum lies halfway along it.
The localization condition for the fastest orthogonal-field interface mode follows directly from the vertical decay length:This is the condition for on both sides. It also controls the locally incompressible approximation, sinceAcoustic adjustment is then fast compared with growth, so bulk density perturbations are higher-order corrections. If this localization condition fails, the constant-background approximation cannot be used to identify the physical fastest mode.
Finally, the printed assumptions allow . In that case eliminates magnetic tension on both sides and gives . There is no finite maximum growth rate or maximizing wavenumber in the ideal sharp-interface model: growth is unbounded as . The finite maximum and localization formula above therefore require .
In the growth curves, is the angle of the horizontal wavevector from the -axis. The illustrated ratio gives , and shows how even a small rotation toward the stronger magnetic field lowers the maximum growth.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ii Paper 1 34E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Use rationalized electromagnetic units with and electrostatic constant . The four-potential transforms by the same matrix as the coordinates:Write and . Gauss's law for the line at rest gives , . A suitable potential is , . The inverse Lorentz transformation gives , . The fields from and are thereforeThe sign agrees with a line charge moving in the positive direction: its density is and its current . In SI units insert in the electric expressions and replace by .
The two invariants check explicitly:For , the electric field differs from the static field only at order , while the magnetic field is of order and is the field of the moving line current. These fields are evaluated off the charged axis.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 ib Paper 1 16E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A steady localized electric current density satisfies , from charge conservation or the divergence of Ampère's equation. Choose an enclosing region whose boundary lies outside its support; extending the integration region does not change the source integrals. The divergence theorem applied componentwise givesTheir boundary fluxes vanish, proving the localized steady-current moment identitiesFor discontinuous but localized currents the same argument uses the distributional steady conservation law and an outer enclosing surface.
The magnetic vector potential is a vector field with , consistent with . It is defined up to . The steady Maxwell equation givesIn the Coulomb gauge , the equation is , whose decaying Green-function solution is the one supplied in the source.
Let and expand its kernel uniformly over the bounded source region:The first term integrates to zero. Put , an antisymmetric tensor by the earlier identity. Define the magnetic dipole moment , so . ConsequentlyorThe displayed dipole term has size . If , it vanishes and a higher multipole determines the leading magnetic field instead.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 ib Paper 4 7E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
For a moving circuit, Faraday's law takes the formHere is the instantaneous wire contour, its local material velocity, and any spanning surface. The contour orientation and surface normal vector obey the right-hand convention. The integral on the right is the magnetic flux, differentiated with both the field and circuit position allowed to vary. The electric field term is the electric force per unit electric charge around the wire, and supplies the motional electromotive force. Their sum is the electromotive force driving charge around the moving circuit. The condition makes the magnetic flux independent of the spanning surface.
Choose the initial loop normal vector to be , so rotation about gives . The spatially uniform magnetic field givesUsing Ohm's law for the resistive loop,Positive electric current is measured in the contour orientation associated with . Reversing that convention reverses the signed answer. When , the magnetic flux is constant and the induced electric current vanishes. This uses the usual thin resistive-circuit approximation with self-inductance neglected.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 65 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let the equilibrium ideal gas be at rest, with uniform and . This local wave calculation neglects gravity, viscosity and magnetic diffusion. Define the adiabatic sound speed , the Alfvén speed , and a wavevector , where and is its angle to the equilibrium magnetic field. Perturbations have dependence and phase speed .
The linearized ideal magnetohydrodynamic equations for mass conservation, pressure, induction and momentum giveThe relation between pressure and mass density follows from eliminating between the two material evolution equations; it applies to the nonzero-frequency wave sector. The induction result automatically has .
The MHD wave polarization is perpendicular to both the field and wavevector. It has and obeysThus the transverse Alfvén wave hasIn the - plane the two remaining velocity components instead obey the symmetric matrix eigenproblemTaking its determinant gives . Solving this quadratic equation in derives both magnetoacoustic wave phase speeds,The plus sign is the fast magnetosonic wave, the minus sign the slow magnetosonic wave. The radicand is nonnegative, since it equals . Both squared speeds are nonnegative. Each nonzero mode has forward and backward propagation; an advected entropy disturbance is a separate zero-frequency mode in this static equilibrium.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 65 2 c i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Take , and . The transverse ideal magnetohydrodynamic induction equation and magnetohydrodynamic momentum equation are satisfied by , , with constant mass density. However, the longitudinal magnetohydrodynamic momentum equation also requiresHere is not constant. Balancing its gradient would requireThe adiabatic pressure equation instead gives , since this velocity is divergence-free and has no component along the spatial variation. No choice of removes the spatially varying time derivative. Thus a nontrivial finite-amplitude linearly polarized sinusoidal Alfvén wave is not an exact pure traveling wave in a compressible ideal fluid. The magnetic-pressure obstruction to a linearly polarized Alfvén wave is quadratic in , so the wave is a valid linear approximation and drives a compressive response at higher order. In an incompressible model pressure is a constraint variable; it is not governed by the same compressible adiabatic evolution law.
Allowing longitudinal flow and varying mass density does not rescue a regular one-dimensional periodic traveling solution with precisely this transverse magnetic field. To see this, let and use the traveling coordinate. Integrated continuity, induction and transverse momentum givewhere are constants. Eliminating givesAt any zero of , finite mass density and velocity require the right side to vanish. Wherever , the coefficient then vanishes and fixes , constant; continuity fixes , and adiabatic entropy transport fixes . The longitudinal magnetohydrodynamic momentum equation again contradicts the varying . The alternative makes transverse momentum force constant. Trivial cases such as or are excluded from the nontrivial wave conclusion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 65 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
On one poloidal flux surface, the field-line angular velocity is constant. In a frame rotating at that rate the relative velocity is , parallel to the magnetic field. The Lorentz force is perpendicular to this motion, and the Coriolis force also does no work. Centrifugal acceleration comes from the effective potential . Since entropy is constant along the surface, pressure work integrates to specific enthalpy , with along the flow.
Therefore kinetic energy relative to the rotating poloidal flux surface, enthalpy and effective gravitational-plus-centrifugal potential have a constant sum:This is a corotating energy integral, not the laboratory energy alone: Maxwell stress tensor stresses can transfer energy and angular momentum in the laboratory frame. In fact the expression equals , namely the total magnetohydrodynamic Bernoulli invariant minus . Differential rotation between surfaces does not invalidate the argument, because the chosen angular velocity is fixed along the particular surface being followed.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 68 2 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Keep the background magnetic field, thermal gradient and wavevector fixed as . In particular, is nonzero and of order one. Put and . Multiplying the nonzero-frequency dispersion relation by givesthat is,The sum and product of its two roots areFor large rotation, the sum is of order while the product is independent of . The quadratic therefore has one large root and one small root. More explicitly,The fast frequencies are consequentlywhich are inertial waves at leading order. For nonzero away from the zero-frequency boundary, the rapid-rotation slow magneto-Coriolis branch hasIts frequency is of order , much smaller than the fast inertial wave frequency. Coriolis force balances most of the magnetic and buoyant forces in this slow motion, with inertia supplying only a small correction.
For , the slow wave has real nonzero frequency whenStable thermal stratification has and automatically satisfies this condition. With adverse stratification, , sufficiently strong magnetic tension along the wavevector is needed. If the inequality is reversed, and the slow branch has imaginary frequencies, including an exponentially growing mode. Equality gives a stationary limit, rather than a nonzero oscillation. If , the proposed slow wave degenerates into zero-frequency disturbances: there is no magnetic restoring coupling. The remaining nonzero branch has . These qualifications also explain why zero roots introduced by clearing denominators must not be interpreted as ordinary propagating waves.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 68 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Magnetoconvection is the competition between thermally driven convection and the force and transport of a conducting fluid's magnetic field. An imposed magnetic field resists motions that bend its field lines through magnetic tension, while magnetic diffusion permits slippage. The competition changes the onset threshold, preferred spatial scale, temporal behaviour and finite-amplitude organization. The geometry matters: a disturbance nearly invariant along a horizontal imposed magnetic field can avoid much of its tension, whereas an impermeable layer with a vertical imposed magnetic field cannot generally avoid bending it.
A useful quantitative example is a nonrotating Boussinesq layer of depth , heated from below with temperature drop and threaded by a vertical magnetic field . Let , , denote kinematic viscosity, thermal diffusivity and magnetic diffusivity. In thermal-diffusion units define the Rayleigh number, Prandtl number, magnetic-to-thermal diffusivity ratio and Chandrasekhar number byUse stress-free impermeable boundaries, fixed temperature perturbation zero, and magnetic boundary conditions keeping the field vertical. More explicitly, the normal modes below satisfy at . For a horizontal wavenumber , take , , and put . The linear temperature and resistive induction equation give and . Applying the solenoidal projection to the magnetohydrodynamic momentum equation removes pressure; the magnetic coupling is , and the vertical projected buoyancy has coefficient . Substituting the temperature and magnetic responses gives the vertical-field magnetoconvection dispersion relationThese stated boundary conditions make the single vertical mode exact in this model; other boundaries change numerical thresholds.
For steady marginal convection, set . The threshold curve isThe imposed magnetic field adds a positive penalty. Differentiating with respect to shows that the minimizing wavenumber obeysAt this gives and . With increasing , the root moves to larger because the left-hand side is strictly increasing for . The strong-field wavenumber selection in magnetoconvection limit isThus a strong vertical imposed field raises the steady threshold and selects narrower convection cells. At small horizontal wavenumber the incompressibility constraint makes a given vertical motion require large horizontal displacement and magnetic bending. Increasing horizontal wavenumber reduces this magnetic penalty, but increases viscous and thermal diffusion. Their balance selects the narrow cells. This statement is specific to the vertical-field geometry: wavenumber selection in oblique-field magnetoconvection can instead favour nearly field-invariant motions.
Oscillatory marginality in vertical-field magnetoconvection occurs because magnetic and temperature perturbations need not relax at the same rate. To exhibit the phase balance, substitute with and write the neutral condition asThe imaginary part must vanish because is real. Dividing that imaginary part by givessoA nonzero oscillation consequently requires and a sufficiently strong imposed magnetic field. In this regime thermal diffusion can erase the temperature anomaly faster than magnetic diffusion relaxes bent field lines. The magnetic restoring force can outlast the buoyant anomaly, reverse the motion, and maintain the phase lag needed for oscillatory instability. The real part gives the oscillatory neutral curveOnly its portions with are physical. The first onset is the lower of the minimized steady and admissible oscillatory thresholds; the existence of an oscillatory neutral solution at a given wavenumber alone does not establish that it is first. For example, at fixed and , both minimizing wavenumbers grow like for large , while and with . At those oscillatory minima, the positive order- contribution to dominates its order- negative contribution, so the oscillatory branch is genuinely admissible and becomes the lower threshold. An overstability therefore precedes steady onset in this limit. More generally nonlinear convection can oscillate even when linear onset is steady; the linear calculation is not a classification of every time-dependent state.
The nonlinear regime introduces a different feedback. The magnetic Reynolds number measures induction relative to diffusion for a finite convective velocity . At large but finite , persistent convection rolls can redistribute magnetic flux. In a two-dimensional incompressible roll, a flux function obeysCirculation repeatedly stretches the flux pattern, building gradients on which even small magnetic diffusivity acts efficiently. Over the flux-rearrangement time this permits flux expulsion: the interior of a vigorous roll becomes weakly magnetized, while magnetic flux is concentrated near its edges. The weak-field interior then suffers less magnetic inhibition and can support broader, stronger convection than the linear narrow-cell prediction for the original uniform magnetic field. Exact zero resistivity would preserve material flux and cannot by itself justify the relaxed flux-expelled state.
The weak interior field also follows from a steady leading-order balance for a coherent two-dimensional roll. Let be its streamfunction and suppose its interior streamlines are nested closed curves with . In the small-diffusivity interior, implies . Integrate the full steady flux equation over the region enclosed by one streamline. Because there, the advection integral vanishes; the divergence theorem then gives . In a regular interior expansion this requires . The normal derivative of has one nonzero sign around a regular nested streamline, so . Hence the leading interior flux function is constant, and its spatial gradient, which gives the two-dimensional magnetic field, vanishes. The mismatch with external flux is accommodated by magnetic boundary layers. This argument assumes the coherent steady roll and a regular interior; it does not prove that every turbulent flow expels flux.
The mean imposed vertical magnetic flux is conserved for horizontally periodic boundaries. In a schematic two-region picture, let a fraction have weak field in vigorous convection and the remainder have field . ThenThe intensified field outside the active cells inhibits surrounding convection. This gives magnetic flux separation: vigorous weak-field patches coexist with strong-field regions whose motion is small or occurs on a finer scale. The redistribution is a consequence of nonlinear induction and back reaction, rather than disappearance of the net imposed flux.
This feedback can permit subcritical magnetoconvection. Infinitesimal perturbations decay below the conductive state's linear threshold because they encounter the full imposed field. A finite-amplitude roll can nevertheless persist by first expelling enough flux to reduce its own magnetic restraint. A sufficient finite disturbance can then switch between the stable conductive state and a convective state, producing hysteresis. A schematic amplitude equation makes the distinction between local linear stability and finite-amplitude persistence explicit:Here measures distance from linear onset; this is an illustrative normal form, not a claim that these coefficients have been derived for every magnetic layer. Writing , the nonzero equilibria satisfyThey appear at a saddle-node bifurcation at . For , the zero state is stable, the lower radial-amplitude branch is unstable, and the upper branch is stable because its radial derivative has sign . Thus finite-amplitude convection can coexist with a linearly stable conductive state below the onset threshold. Large facilitates the flux-expulsion mechanism but is not a universal sufficient condition: geometry, the imposed magnetic field, the capacity to form coherent recirculating cells, and magnetic back reaction all matter. The broad nonlinear cells in weak-field regions can coexist with much narrower cells in magnetically dominated regions, linking the nonlinear flux distribution back to scale selection.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 75 2 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-20
Put and . Define the two-dimensional Poisson bracket byThen, to the retained anisotropic order, the derivative along the perturbed magnetic field isThe omitted term is smaller by than either retained term. The nonlinear field-line-bending term is of the same order as , which is why it must remain.
Use with . The leading parallel and perpendicular electron velocities areIn detail, , while the parallel curl of is . The perpendicular curl involving is order-smaller. Exact electron incompressibility follows from the divergence of a curl; its small velocity correction supplies any divergence omitted by this leading representation.
The electron magnetohydrodynamics equation is frozen-in induction,because both and are solenoidal. Keeping its leading order- perpendicular terms givesLet . Expanding the two components gives . Substitution therefore reduces the perpendicular equation toThe perpendicular-constant freedom in has no magnetic effect and can be fixed so that

