Complete classification of stationary flows with constant total pressure of ideal incompressible infinitely conducting fluid

TL;DR

This paper exhaustively classifies all stationary incompressible flows with constant total pressure in ideal conducting fluids, using a novel coordinate system and solving complex nonlinear equations.

Contribution

It introduces a new coordinate framework and explicitly integrates the wave equation, providing a complete classification of solutions for these flows.

Findings

Explicit solutions for flows with constant total pressure

Canonical representatives of all solution types

Extended solution set through equivalence transformations

Abstract

The exhaustive classification of stationary incompressible flows with constant total pressure of ideal infinitely electrically conducting fluid is given. By introduction of curvilinear coordinates based on streamlines and magnetic lines of the flow the system of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equations is reduced to a nonlinear vector wave equation extended by the incompressibility condition in a form of a generalized Cauchy integral. For flows with constant total pressure the wave equation is explicitly integrated, whereas the incompressibility condition is reduced to a scalar equation for functions, depending on different sets of variables. The central difficulty of the investigation is the separation of variables in the scalar equation, and integration of the resulting overdetermined systems of nonlinear partially differential equations. The canonical representatives of all possible types of solutions together with equivalence transformations, that extend the canonical set to the whole amount of solutions are represented.