This work is motivated by a common assumption in plasma physics that magnetic fields can be described by time-periodic non-autonomous Hamiltonian systems. We give a precise formulation of what it means for the dynamics of a vector field to be represented by a time-periodic non-autonomous Hamiltonian system and identify obstructions to the existence of such representations. Each obstruction is illustrated with examples. Our main result establishes necessary and sufficient conditions under which a vector field on a compact connected orientable three-manifold with boundary admits a Hamiltonian representation. In the physically relevant setting where the manifold is a solid or hollow torus embedded in Euclidean space, a corollary is that a magnetic field admits a Hamiltonian representation if and only if it possesses a global Poincaré section.
Global realisation of magnetic fields as 1.5D Hamiltonian systems
N. Duignan,D. Perrella,D. Pfefferlé,Dr Richard Montgomery
Published 2025 in Nonlinearity
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- Publication year
2025
- Venue
Nonlinearity
- Publication date
2025-10-06
- Fields of study
Physics
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