Multi-Symplectic Magnetohydrodynamics

Abstract

A multi-symplectic formulation of ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) is developed based on a Clebsch variable variational principle in which the Lagrangian consists of the kinetic minus the potential energy of the MHD fluid modified by constraints using Lagrange multipliers, that ensure mass conservation, entropy advection with the flow, the Lin constraint and Faraday's equation (i.e the magnetic flux is Lie dragged with the flow). The analysis is also carried out using the magnetic vector potential $\tilde{\bf A}$ where $\alpha=\tilde{\bf A}{\bf\cdot}d{\bf x}$ is Lie dragged with the flow, where ${\bf B}=\nabla\times\tilde{\bf A}$. The symplecticity conservation laws are shown to give rise to the Eulerian momentum and energy conservation laws in MHD. Noether's theorem for the multi-symplectic MHD system is derived, including the case of non-Cartesian space coordinates, where the metric plays a role in the equations.