Godbillon-Vey Helicity and Magnetic Helicity in Magnetohydrodynamics

Abstract: The Godbillon-Vey invariant occurs in homology theory, and algebraic topology, when conditions for a co-dimension 1, foliation of a 3D manifold are satisfied. The magnetic Godbillon-Vey helicity invariant in magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) is a higher order helicity invariant that occurs for flows, in which the magnetic helicity density $h_m={\bf A}{\bf\cdot}{\bf B}={\bf A}{\bf\cdot}(\nabla\times{\bf A})=0$, where ${\bf A}$ is the magnetic vector potential and ${\bf B}$ is the magnetic induction. This paper obtains evolution equations for the magnetic Godbillon-Vey field $\boldsymbol{\eta}={\bf A}\times{\bf B}/|{\bf A}|^2$ and the Godbillon-Vey helicity density $h_{gv}=\boldsymbol{\eta}{\bf\cdot}(\nabla\times{\boldsymbol\eta})$ in general MHD flows in which either $h_m=0$ or $h_m\neq 0$. A conservation law for $h_{gv}$ occurs in flows for which $h_m=0$. For $h_m\neq 0$ the evolution equation for $h_{gv}$ contains a source term in which $h_m$ is coupled to $h_{gv}$ via the shear tensor of the background flow. The transport equation for $h_{gv}$ also depends on the electric field potential $\psi$, which is related to the gauge for ${\bf A}$, which takes its simplest form for the advected ${\bf A}$ gauge in which $\psi={\bf A\cdot u}$ where ${\bf u}$ is the fluid velocity. An application of the Godbillon-Vey magnetic helicity to nonlinear force-free magnetic fields used in solar physics is investigated. The possible uses of the Godbillon-Vey helicity in zero helicity flows in ideal fluid mechanics, and in zero helicity Lagrangian kinematics of three-dimensional advection are discussed.