The canonical vorticity framework and its applications in collisionless, magnetized plasma physics

Abstract

I briefly review the canonical vorticity theoretical framework and its applications in collisionless, magnetized plasma physics. The canonical vorticity is a weighted sum of the fluid vorticity and the magnetic field and is equal to the curl of the canonical momentum. By taking this variable as the primary variable instead of the magnetic field, various phenomena that require non-MHD effect in their scrutiny can be simplified. Two examples are given, namely magnetic reconnection and magnetogenesis, and exactly how the canonical vorticity framework simplifies their analyses is described. Suggestions for future work are also delineated.