MHD Stagnation point flows in the presence of resistivity and viscosity

Journal Article · Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1988 · Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/JA093iA07p07318· OSTI ID:5153222

Gratton, F T; Heyn, M F; Biernat, H K; Rijnbeek, R P; Gnavi, G ^[1]

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1. Osterreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Graz (Austria)

The authors analyze the steady state situation in which two separate and counterstreaming plasmas (assumed to be incompressible) carrying antiparallel magnetic fields are separated by a resistive current layer. Exact solutions are presented which describe the stagnation point flow pattern and magnetic field behavior which result. They incorporate the effects of viscosity, which enables us to model flows with vorticity. The uniform plasma flow which is obtained at large distances from the current layer allows us to specify finite values of the asymptotic magnetic field. The exact solutions complement those of a different type obtained by B.U.O. Sonnerup and E.R. Priest (1975) which assume potential flow, i.e., zero vorticity. The results they obtain are discussed in relation to observational features at the Earth's magnetopause.

• OSTI ID: 5153222
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Vol. 93:A7; ISSN 0148-0227
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
STAGNATION
MAGNETOPAUSE
BOUNDARY LAYERS
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PLASMA
STEADY-STATE CONDITIONS
VISCOSITY
VORTICES
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
FLUID MECHANICS
HYDRODYNAMICS
LAYERS
MECHANICS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
640201* - Atmospheric Physics- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magetospheric Phenomena