Compressional plasma flows near magnetic null points

Self-similar solutions of the MHD equations describing time-varying plasma flows near magnetic null points are analyzed. Various classes of particular solutions are constructed. Special attention is paid to compressional flows which involve the development of sharp maxima. The stability of the self-similar solutions is studied. Solutions describing the motion of a vortex in MHD are constructed. The possibility of producing current sheets in nonuniform magnetic configurations is demonstrated.