Quasi characteristic MHD flows

Abstract

At small magnetic Reynolds number, a two-dimensional model is proposed for MHD flows in a nonuniform magnetic field and in a cavity of nonuniform depth in the direction of the magnetic field. The characteristic surfaces appear when deriving the model and play a crucial role in the resulting solutions. A new type of free shear layers are found for the first time, developing along such surfaces, of thickness of order Ha^−1/4.