Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2007 / iii / Paper 75 / 2 / b

The solenoidal magnetic-field constraint impliesWith $\delta B/B_0=O(ϵ)$ and ${\partial }_z=O(ϵ{\nabla }_{\perp })$, the right-hand side is $O({ϵ}^2{k}_{\perp }{B}_0)$. Thus the leading, order-$ϵ$ perpendicular field is divergence-free. On a simply connected perpendicular patch, or for the nonzero perpendicular Fourier modes of a periodic domain, it has a stream function. Choose its normalization byConsequently the leading reduced electron magnetohydrodynamics representation isThe error denotes an order-${ϵ}^2$ field relative to $B_0$. The parallel perturbation is an independent scalar and is not removed by leading perpendicular solenoidality.

For clarity, the representation is asymptotic rather than an exact decomposition of an arbitrary three-dimensional solenoidal field. If $\delta B_{\parallel }$ depends on $z$, exact solenoidality can be restored by adding ${\nabla }_{\perp }\chi$ to $\delta {\mathbf{B}}_{\perp }$, where ${\nabla }_{\perp }^2\chi =-{\partial }_z\delta B_{\parallel }$. Its amplitude is $O({ϵ}^2{B}_0)$, so it lies beyond the retained field order. A perpendicular harmonic component can be absorbed into the guide field or fixed separately by boundary conditions.