Equilibrium and stability of rotating masses with a toroidal magnetic field

Abstract

We investigate the equilibrium, oscillations, and stability of uniformly rotating masses with a toroidal magnetic field, proportional with the distance to te axis of rotation. The equilibrium is an oblate or prolate spheroid according as the rotational energy is greater or smaller than the magnetic energy. The sequence of equilibrium figures exhibits a maximum value for the angular velocity in the oblate case and a maximum for the angular momentum in the prolate case. The dispersion relation is derived using Bryan's ‘modified’ spheroidal coordinates. One obtains 2(n−m)+4 solutions for the oscillation frequency ω ifm≠0 and 1/2n or 1/2(n+1) solutions for ω2 according asn is even or odd ifm=0. The point where the Jacobi ellipsoids bifurcate from the MacLaurin sequence is unaffected by the magnetic field. However, the points of the onset of dynamical instability corresponding to the second and third harmonics and the point where a pear-shaped sequence bifurcate, depend upon the magnetic field. They are shifted to higher values for the eccentricity and can be suppressed by a sufficiently large magnetic field.