Unusual divergence of magnetoacoustic beams

Abstract

Two-dimensional magnetosonic beams directed along a line forming a constant angle θ with the equilibrium straight magnetic field are considered. Perturbations in a plasma are described by the system of ideal magnetohydrodynamic equations. The dynamics of perturbations in a beam are different in the cases of fast and slow modes, and it is determined by θ and equilibrium parameters of a plasma. In particular, a beam divergence may be unusual in the case of parallel propagation (θ = 0). Diffraction is more pronounced in the case of parallel propagation as compared to a flow without magnetic field, and less manifested in the case of perpendicular propagation. The beams propagating oblique to the magnetic field do not reveal diffraction. The dynamics of perturbations in a beam are analytically described in the cases of weak and strong nonlinearity compared to diffraction. Small magnitude perturbations at the axis of a beam in unusual cases propagate slower than that in the plane wave. Involving of thermal conduction leads to the coupling equations describing thermal self-action of a beam, which behaves differently in the ordinary and unusual cases. Self-focusing may occur in the presence of a magnetic field instead of conventional defocusing in gases.