On the motion of free interface in two-dimensional ideal incompressible MHD

Abstract

For the free boundary problem of the plasma-vacuum interface to ideal incompressible magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) in two-dimensional space, the a priori estimates of solutions are proved in Sobolev norms by adopting a geometrical point of view. In the vacuum region, the magnetic field is described by the div-curl system of pre-Maxwell dynamics, while at the interface the total pressure is continuous and the magnetic field is tangent to the boundary. We prove that the $L^2$ norms of any order covariant derivatives of the magnetic field in vacuum and on the boundaries are bounded in terms of initial data and the second fundamental forms of the free interface and the rigid wall.