An energy principle for hydromagnetic stability problems

Abstract The problem of the stability of static, highly conducting, fully ionized plasmas is investigated by means of an energy principle developed from one introduced by Lundquist. The derivation of the principle and the conditions under which it applies are given. The method is applied to find complete stability criteria for two types of equilibrium situations. The first concerns plasmas which are completely separated from the magnetic field by an interface. The second is the general axisymmetric system.