Structure and computation of two-dimensional incompressible extended MHD

Abstract

A comprehensive study of the extended magnetohydrodynamic model obtained from the two-fluid theory for electrons and ions with the enforcement of quasineutrality is given. Starting from the Hamiltonian structure of the fully three-dimensional theory, a Hamiltonian two-dimensional incompressible four-field model is derived. In this way, the energy conservation along with four families of Casimir invariants is naturally obtained. The construction facilitates various limits leading to the Hamiltonian forms of Hall, inertial, and ideal MHD, with their conserved energies and Casimir invariants. Basic linear theory of the four-field model is treated, and the growth rate for collisionless reconnection is obtained. Results from nonlinear simulations of collisionless tearing are presented and interpreted using, in particular, normal fields, a product of the Hamiltonian theory that gives rise to simplified equations of motion.