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Chandrasekhar–Kendall functions are the eigenfunctions of the curl operator derived by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar and P. C. Kendall in 1957 while attempting to solve the force-free magnetic fields. The functions were independently derived by both, and the two decided to publish their findings in the same paper.

If the force-free magnetic field equation is written as ${\displaystyle \nabla \times \mathbf {H} =\lambda \mathbf {H} }$, where ${\displaystyle \mathbf {H} }$ is the magnetic field and ${\displaystyle \lambda }$ is the force-free parameter, with the assumption of divergence free field, ${\displaystyle \nabla \cdot \mathbf {H} =0}$, then the most general solution for the axisymmetric case is

${\displaystyle \mathbf {H} ={\frac {1}{\lambda }}\nabla \times (\nabla \times \psi \mathbf {\hat {n}} )+\nabla \times \psi \mathbf {\hat {n}} }$

where ${\displaystyle \mathbf {\hat {n}} }$ is a unit vector and the scalar function ${\displaystyle \psi }$ satisfies the Helmholtz equation, i.e.,

${\displaystyle \nabla ^{2}\psi +\lambda ^{2}\psi =0.}$

The same equation also appears in Beltrami flows from fluid dynamics where, the vorticity vector is parallel to the velocity vector, i.e., ${\displaystyle \nabla \times \mathbf {v} =\lambda \mathbf {v} }$.

Derivation

Taking curl of the equation ${\displaystyle \nabla \times \mathbf {H} =\lambda \mathbf {H} }$ and using this same equation, we get

${\displaystyle \nabla \times (\nabla \times \mathbf {H} )=\lambda ^{2}\mathbf {H} }$.

In the vector identity ${\displaystyle \nabla \times \left(\nabla \times \mathbf {H} \right)=\nabla (\nabla \cdot \mathbf {H} )-\nabla ^{2}\mathbf {H} }$, we can set ${\displaystyle \nabla \cdot \mathbf {H} =0}$ since it is solenoidal, which leads to a vector Helmholtz equation,

${\displaystyle \nabla ^{2}\mathbf {H} +\lambda ^{2}\mathbf {H} =0}$.

Every solution of above equation is not the solution of original equation, but the converse is true. If ${\displaystyle \psi }$ is a scalar function which satisfies the equation ${\displaystyle \nabla ^{2}\psi +\lambda ^{2}\psi =0}$, then the three linearly independent solutions of the vector Helmholtz equation are given by

${\displaystyle \mathbf {L} =\nabla \psi ,\quad \mathbf {T} =\nabla \times \psi \mathbf {\hat {n}} ,\quad \mathbf {S} ={\frac {1}{\lambda }}\nabla \times \mathbf {T} }$

where ${\displaystyle \mathbf {\hat {n}} }$ is a fixed unit vector. Since ${\displaystyle \nabla \times \mathbf {S} =\lambda \mathbf {T} }$, it can be found that ${\displaystyle \nabla \times (\mathbf {S} +\mathbf {T} )=\lambda (\mathbf {S} +\mathbf {T} )}$. But this is same as the original equation, therefore ${\displaystyle \mathbf {H} =\mathbf {S} +\mathbf {T} }$, where ${\displaystyle \mathbf {S} }$ is the poloidal field and ${\displaystyle \mathbf {T} }$ is the toroidal field. Thus, substituting ${\displaystyle \mathbf {T} }$ in ${\displaystyle \mathbf {S} }$, we get the most general solution as

${\displaystyle \mathbf {H} ={\frac {1}{\lambda }}\nabla \times (\nabla \times \psi \mathbf {\hat {n}} )+\nabla \times \psi \mathbf {\hat {n}} .}$

Cylindrical polar coordinates

Taking the unit vector in the ${\displaystyle z}$ direction, i.e., ${\displaystyle \mathbf {\hat {n}} =\mathbf {e} _{z}}$, with a periodicity ${\displaystyle L}$ in the ${\displaystyle z}$ direction with vanishing boundary conditions at ${\displaystyle r=a}$, the solution is given by

${\displaystyle \psi =J_{m}(\mu _{j}r)e^{im\theta +ikz},\quad \lambda =\pm (\mu _{j}^{2}+k^{2})^{1/2}}$

where ${\displaystyle J_{m}}$ is the Bessel function, ${\displaystyle k=\pm 2\pi n/L,\ n=0,1,2,\ldots }$, the integers ${\displaystyle m=0,\pm 1,\pm 2,\ldots }$ and ${\displaystyle \mu _{j}}$ is determined by the boundary condition ${\displaystyle ak\mu _{j}J_{m}'(\mu _{j}a)+m\lambda J_{m}(\mu _{j}a)=0.}$ The eigenvalues for ${\displaystyle m=n=0}$ has to be dealt separately. Since here ${\displaystyle \mathbf {\hat {n}} =\mathbf {e} _{z}}$, we can think of ${\displaystyle z}$ direction to be toroidal and ${\displaystyle \theta }$ direction to be poloidal, consistent with the convention.

See also

• Poloidal–toroidal decomposition
• Woltjer's theorem

References

1. Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan (1956). "On force-free magnetic fields". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 42 (1): 1–5. doi:10.1073/pnas.42.1.1. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 534220. PMID 16589804.
2. Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan; Kendall, P. C. (September 1957). "On Force-Free Magnetic Fields". The Astrophysical Journal. 126 (1): 1–5. Bibcode:1957ApJ...126..457C. doi:10.1086/146413. ISSN 0004-637X. PMC 534220. PMID 16589804.
3. Montgomery, David; Turner, Leaf; Vahala, George (1978). "Three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in cylindrical geometry". Physics of Fluids. 21 (5): 757–764. doi:10.1063/1.862295.
4. Yoshida, Z. (1991-07-01). "Discrete Eigenstates of Plasmas Described by the Chandrasekhar–Kendall Functions". Progress of Theoretical Physics. 86 (1): 45–55. doi:10.1143/ptp/86.1.45. ISSN 0033-068X.

• Astrophysics
• Plasma theory and modeling