We have just derived the “complete” MHD fluid model. We now consider briefly a simpler model that is obtained by ignoring Π and q and setting η = 0. (Note that this is a form of closure.) The medium is thus a perfect electrical conductor and has no viscosity or thermal conductivity. This is a highly idealized situation, not attainable in nature; it is called ideal MHD. However, it turns out that ideal MHD describes to a remarkably good approximation many of the dynamical properties of hot, strongly magnetized plasmas. This is primarily because most hot plasmas are excellent (although not perfect) conductors of electricity. Ideal MHD is thus of considerable interest.
And moveth all together, if it moves at all.
William Wordsworth, Resolution and Independence
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© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Schnack, D.D. (2009). Ideal MHD and the Frozen Flux Theorem. In: Lectures in Magnetohydrodynamics. Lecture Notes in Physics, vol 780. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00688-3_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00688-3_9
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