MHD equilibrium and stability properties of a bipolar current loop

✍ Scribed by Ming L. Xue; James Chen

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1983
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 323 KB
• Volume: 84
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0038-0938
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00157450

✦ Synopsis

A study is made of equilibrium and stability properties of a semi-toroidal current loop imbedded in a high temperature plasma. The loop carries a toroidal current density 3', and poloidal current density Jp. By explicity including the global curvature of the loop, the net Lorentz and pressure forces acting along the major radius are calculated. Requirement of equilibrium force-balance gives rise to conditions that must be satisfied by the physical parameters and geometry. On the basis of these conditions, we deduce a class of equilibrium semi-toroidal current loops satisfying c-' J x B -•p = 0. It is found that the averge pressure inside the loop is less than the ambient coronal pressure in equilibrium. Furthermore, this class of equilibria is shown to be stable to a number of destructive MHD modes. The theoretical results are discussed in the context of solar bipolar current loops.