Magnetohydrodynamic Waves

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study some special magnetohydrodynamic waves and their connection with the methods of their production, that is, the boundary conditions. Possible wave motions of a fluid form the underlying structure of the mathematical description; hence a knowledge of their behavior leads to a deeper understanding of fluid dynamical problems. Furthermore there is some evidence that these waves can be produced in the laboratory and may occur in nature. These waves occur in a model fluid which is an ordinary gas dynamic fluid endowed with a scalar electrical conductivity σ. In practice there is a fairly direct application to slightly ionized gases and to conducting liquids. However the general method of approach also applies to fully ionized plasmas described by continuum equations.