Magnetic winding: what is it and what is it good for?

Prior, C. and Mactaggart, D. (2020) Magnetic winding: what is it and what is it good for? Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 476(2242), 20200483. (doi: 10.1098/rspa.2020.0483)

Abstract

Magnetic winding is a fundamental topological quantity that underpins magnetic helicity and measures the entanglement of magnetic field lines. Like magnetic helicity, magnetic winding is also an invariant of ideal magnetohydrodynamics. In this article, we give a detailed description of what magnetic winding describes, how to calculate it and how to interpret it in relation to helicity. We show how magnetic winding provides a clear topological description of magnetic fields (open or closed) and we give examples to show how magnetic winding and helicity can behave differently, thus revealing different and important information about the underlying magnetic field.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Mactaggart, Dr David
• Authors: Prior, C., and Mactaggart, D.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Mathematics and Statistics > Mathematics
• Journal Name: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
• Publisher: The Royal Society
• ISSN: 1364-5021
• ISSN (Online): 1471-2946
• Published Online: 14 October 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 476(2242):20200483
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy