The Grad–Shafranov equation (H. Grad and H. Rubin (1958); Vitalii Dmitrievich Shafranov (1966)) is the equilibrium equation in ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) for a two dimensional plasma, for example the axisymmetric toroidal plasma in a tokamak. This equation is a two-dimensional, nonlinear, elliptic partial differential equation obtained from the reduction of the ideal MHD equations to two dimensions, often for the case of toroidal axisymmetry (the case relevant in a tokamak). The flux function ${\displaystyle \psi }$ is both a dependent and an independent variable in this equation:

${\displaystyle \Delta ^{*}\psi =-\mu _{0}R^{2}{\frac {dp}{d\psi }}-{\frac {1}{2}}{\frac {dF^{2}}{d\psi }},}$

where ${\displaystyle \mu _{0}}$ is the magnetic permeability, ${\displaystyle p(\psi )}$ is the pressure, ${\displaystyle F(\psi )=RB_{\phi }}$ and the magnetic field and current are, respectively, given by

{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}{\vec {B}}&={\frac {1}{R}}\nabla \psi \times {\hat {e}}_{\phi }+{\frac {F}{R}}{\hat {e}}_{\phi },\\\mu _{0}{\vec {J}}&={\frac {1}{R}}{\frac {dF}{d\psi }}\nabla \psi \times {\hat {e}}_{\phi }-{\frac {1}{R}}\Delta ^{*}\psi {\hat {e}}_{\phi }.\end{aligned}}}

The elliptic operator ${\displaystyle \Delta ^{*}}$ is

${\displaystyle \Delta ^{*}\psi \equiv R^{2}{\vec {\nabla }}\cdot \left({\frac {1}{R^{2}}}{\vec {\nabla }}\psi \right)=R{\frac {\partial }{\partial R}}\left({\frac {1}{R}}{\frac {\partial \psi }{\partial R}}\right)+{\frac {\partial ^{2}\psi }{\partial Z^{2}}}}$.

The nature of the equilibrium, whether it be a tokamak, reversed field pinch, etc. is largely determined by the choices of the two functions ${\displaystyle F(\psi )}$ and ${\displaystyle p(\psi )}$ as well as the boundary conditions.

## Derivation (in slab coordinates)

In the following, it is assumed that the system is 2-dimensional with ${\displaystyle z}$ as the invariant axis, i.e. ${\displaystyle {\frac {\partial }{\partial z}}=0}$ for all quantities. Then the magnetic field can be written in cartesian coordinates as

${\displaystyle {\mathbf {B}}=\left({\frac {\partial A}{\partial y}},-{\frac {\partial A}{\partial x}},B_{z}(x,y)\right),}$

or more compactly,

${\displaystyle {\mathbf {B}}=\nabla A\times {\hat {\mathbf {z}}}+B_{z}{\hat {\mathbf {z}}},}$

where ${\displaystyle A(x,y){\hat {\mathbf {z}}}}$ is the vector potential for the in-plane (x and y components) magnetic field. Note that based on this form for B we can see that A is constant along any given magnetic field line, since ${\displaystyle \nabla A}$ is everywhere perpendicular to B. (Also note that -A is the flux function ${\displaystyle \psi }$ mentioned above.)

Two dimensional, stationary, magnetic structures are described by the balance of pressure forces and magnetic forces, i.e.:

${\displaystyle \nabla p={\mathbf {j}}\times {\mathbf {B}},}$

where p is the plasma pressure and j is the electric current. It is known that p is a constant along any field line, (again since ${\displaystyle \nabla p}$ is everywhere perpendicular to B). Additionally, the two-dimensional assumption (${\displaystyle {\frac {\partial }{\partial z}}=0}$) means that the z- component of the left hand side must be zero, so the z-component of the magnetic force on the right hand side must also be zero. This means that ${\displaystyle {\mathbf {j}}_{\perp }\times {\mathbf {B}}_{\perp }=0}$, i.e. ${\displaystyle {\mathbf {j}}_{\perp }}$ is parallel to ${\displaystyle {\mathbf {B}}_{\perp }}$.

The right hand side of the previous equation can be considered in two parts:

${\displaystyle {\mathbf {j}}\times {\mathbf {B}}=j_{z}({\hat {\mathbf {z}}}\times {\mathbf {B_{\perp }}})+{\mathbf {j_{\perp }}}\times {\hat {\mathbf {z}}}B_{z},}$

where the ${\displaystyle \perp }$ subscript denotes the component in the plane perpendicular to the ${\displaystyle z}$-axis. The ${\displaystyle z}$ component of the current in the above equation can be written in terms of the one-dimensional vector potential as ${\displaystyle j_{z}=-{\frac {1}{\mu _{0}}}\nabla ^{2}A.}$.

The in plane field is

${\displaystyle {\mathbf {B}}_{\perp }=\nabla A\times {\hat {\mathbf {z}}}}$,

and using Maxwell–Ampère's equation, the in plane current is given by

${\displaystyle {\mathbf {j}}_{\perp }={\frac {1}{\mu _{0}}}\nabla B_{z}\times {\hat {\mathbf {z}}}}$.

In order for this vector to be parallel to ${\displaystyle {\mathbf {B}}_{\perp }}$ as required, the vector ${\displaystyle \nabla B_{z}}$ must be perpendicular to ${\displaystyle {\mathbf {B}}_{\perp }}$, and ${\displaystyle B_{z}}$ must therefore, like ${\displaystyle p}$, be a field-line invariant.

Rearranging the cross products above leads to

${\displaystyle {\hat {\mathbf {z}}}\times {\mathbf {B}}_{\perp }=\nabla A-({\mathbf {\hat {z}}}\cdot \nabla A){\mathbf {\hat {z}}}=\nabla A}$,

and

${\displaystyle {\mathbf {j}}_{\perp }\times B_{z}{\mathbf {\hat {z}}}={\frac {B_{z}}{\mu _{0}}}({\mathbf {\hat {z}}}\cdot \nabla B_{z}){\mathbf {\hat {z}}}-{\frac {1}{\mu _{0}}}B_{z}\nabla B_{z}=-{\frac {1}{\mu _{0}}}B_{z}\nabla B_{z}.}$

These results can be substituted into the expression for ${\displaystyle \nabla p}$ to yield:

${\displaystyle \nabla p=-\left[{\frac {1}{\mu _{0}}}\nabla ^{2}A\right]\nabla A-{\frac {1}{\mu _{0}}}B_{z}\nabla B_{z}.}$

Since ${\displaystyle p}$ and ${\displaystyle B_{z}}$ are constants along a field line, and functions only of ${\displaystyle A}$, hence ${\displaystyle \nabla p={\frac {dp}{dA}}\nabla A}$ and ${\displaystyle \nabla B_{z}={\frac {dB_{z}}{dA}}\nabla A}$. Thus, factoring out ${\displaystyle \nabla A}$ and rearranging terms yields the Grad–Shafranov equation:

${\displaystyle \nabla ^{2}A=-\mu _{0}{\frac {d}{dA}}\left(p+{\frac {B_{z}^{2}}{2\mu _{0}}}\right).}$

## References

• Grad, H., and Rubin, H. (1958) Hydromagnetic Equilibria and Force-Free Fields. Proceedings of the 2nd UN Conf. on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, Vol. 31, Geneva: IAEA p. 190.
• Shafranov, V.D. (1966) Plasma equilibrium in a magnetic field, Reviews of Plasma Physics, Vol. 2, New York: Consultants Bureau, p. 103.
• Woods, Leslie C. (2004) Physics of plasmas, Weinheim: WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, chapter 2.5.4
• Haverkort, J.W. (2009) Axisymmetric Ideal MHD Tokamak Equilibria. Notes about the Grad-Shafranov equation, selected aspects of the equation and its analytical solutions.
• Haverkort, J.W. (2009) Axisymmetric Ideal MHD equilibria with Toroidal Flow. Incorporation of toroidal flow, relation to kinetic and two-fluid models, and discussion of specific analytical solutions.