Equilibrium configurations of a jet of an ideally conducting liquid in an external nonuniform magnetic field

Abstract

Possible equilibrium configurations of the free surface of a jet of an ideally conducting liquid placed in a nonuniform magnetic field are considered. The magnetic field is generated by two thin wires that are parallel to the jet and bear oppositely directed currents. Equilibrium is due to a balance between capillary and magnetic forces. For the plane symmetric case, when the jet deforms only in the plane of its cross section, two one-parameter families of exact solutions to the problem are derived using the method of conformal mapping. According to these solutions, a jet with an initially circular cross section deforms up to splitting into two separate jets. A criterion for jet splitting is derived by analyzing approximate two-parameter solutions.