Self-adjointness of sound-proof models for magnetic buoyancy

An ideal magneto-hydrodynamic fluid, whether fully compressible or incompressible, is a Hamiltonian system. This implies that the equations describing perturbations to any static state are self-adjoint, a fact that is useful in obtaining stability criteria. To describe weakly compressible flows, there are a number of “sound-proof” models that eliminate sound waves by making approximations to the governing equations. However, such approximations may violate the Hamiltonian structure of the system. In a recent work, we have introduced a very general sound-proof model and determined conditions under which it closely approximates the linear regime of magneto-buoyancy instability, motivated by conditions in the solar interior. In the present work, we take a complementary approach, by deriving constraints under which the linearised sound-proof system is self-adjoint. We show that there is a unique set of self-adjoint sound-proof equations that conserves the same energy as the fully compressible system.