Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T05:32:38.587Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Well-posedness of some initial—boundary-value problems for dynamo-generated poloidal magnetic fields

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2009

Ralf Kaiser
Affiliation:
Fakultät für Mathematik, Physik und Informatik, Universität Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany, ([email protected])
Hannes Uecker
Affiliation:
Institut für Mathematik, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany, ([email protected])

Abstract

Given a bounded domain G ⊂ ℝd, d ≥ 3, we study smooth solutions of a linear parabolic equation with non-constant coefficients in G, which at the boundary have to C1-match with some harmonic function in ℝd \ Ḡ vanishing at spatial infinity.

This problem arises in the framework of magnetohydrodynamics if certain dynamo-generated magnetic fields are considered: for example, in the case of axisymmetry, or for non-radial flow fields, the poloidal scalar of the magnetic field solves the above problem.

We first investigate the Poisson problem in G with the boundary condition described above as well as the associated eigenvalue problem and prove the existence of smooth solutions. As a by-product we obtain the completeness of the well-known poloidal ‘free decay modes’ in ℝ3 if G is a ball. Smooth solutions of the evolution problem are then obtained by Galerkin approximation based on these eigenfunctions.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)