Global solutions of nonlinear magnetohydrodynamics with large initial data

A free boundary problem for nonlinear magnetohydrodynamics with general large initial data is investigated. The existence, uniqueness, and regularity of global solutions are established with large initial data in H1. It is shown that neither shock waves nor vacuum and concentration in the solutions are developed in a finite time, although there is a complex interaction between the hydrodynamic and magneto-dynamic effects. An existence theorem of global solutions with large discontinuous initial data is also established. © 2002 Elsevier Science (USA)