Hamiltonian structure of single-helicity, incompressible magnetohydrodynamics and application to magnetorotational instability

Abstract

A four-field reduced model of single helicity, incompressible MHD is derived in cylindrical geometry. An appropriate set of noncanonical variables is found, and the Hamiltonian, the Lie-Poisson bracket and the Casimir invariants are clarified. Detailed proofs of properties of the Lie-Poisson bracket, (i) antisymmetry, (ii) Leibniz rule, and (iii) Jacobi identity, are given. Two applications are presented: the first is that the local dispersion relation of axisymmetric magnetohydrodynamics (MRI) is properly reproduced, and the second is that linear stability analyses including negative-energy MRI were successfully performed.