THE SHEAR ALFVEN-WAVE IN A RESISTIVE PLASMA WITH A SHEARLESS MAGNETIC-FIELD

In this Brief Communication, the time development of the shear Alfven wave in a resistive magnetohydrodynamic plasma is treated. The analysi s is restricted to a pressureless plasma confined in a planar sheet pi nch with a constant equilibrium magnetic field directed parallel to th e magnetic surface wave vector. The equilibrium mass density depends o n the spatial coordinate orthogonal to the planar magnetic surfaces. U nder these conditions, the shear Alfven mode decouples from the compre ssional Alfven mode. The time behavior of the wave fields is governed by a second-order scalar partial differential equation. Laplace transf orm techniques are used to solve the equation, and to explore the limi ting form of the solution as resistivity passes to zero. (C) 1997 Amer ican Institute of Physics.