Hydrostatic equilibrium of hydromagnetic fields.

Abstract

The condition for a hydromagnetic field to be in hydrostatic equilibrium is discussed. It is shown that if the topology of the wrapping pattern of lines of force of a non-force-free field around each other changes along the field, then the configuration cannot be in hydrostatic equilibrium. A general discussion is given, and several special cases are worked out to illustrate the general equilibrium requirement.