Selective decay in fluids with advected quantities: MHD and Hall MHD

Abstract

Modifications of the equations of ideal fluid dynamics with advected quantities are introduced that allow selective decay of either the energy $h$ or the Casimir quantities $C$ in the Lie-Poisson formulation. The dissipated quantity (energy or Casimir, respectively) is shown to decrease in time until the modified system reaches an equilibrium state consistent with ideal energy-Casimir equilibria, namely $\delta(h+C)=0$. The result holds for Lie-Poisson equations in general, independently of the Lie algebra and the choice of Casimir. This selective decay process is illustrated with a number of examples in 2D and 3D magnetohydrodynamics (MHD).