Constructing a class of topological solitons in magnetohydrodynamics.
We present a class of topological plasma configurations characterized by their toroidal and poloidal winding numbers, nt and np, respectively. The special case of nt=1 and np=1 corresponds to the Kamchatnov-Hopf soliton, a magnetic field configuration everywhere tangent to the fibers of a Hopf fibration so that the field lines are circular, linked exactly once, and form the surfaces of nested tori. We show that for nt∈Z+ and np=1, these configurations represent stable, localized solutions to the magnetohydrodynamic equations for an ideal incompressible fluid with infinite conductivity. Furthermore, we extend our stability analysis by considering a plasma with finite conductivity, and we estimate the soliton lifetime in such a medium as a function of the toroidal winding number.
Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA and Huygens Laboratory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9504, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
Amy
A
Thompson
Huygens Laboratory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9504, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
Joe
J
Swearngin
Huygens Laboratory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9504, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
Alexander
A
Wickes
Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA and Huygens Laboratory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9504, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
Dirk
D
Bouwmeester