Distinguished Swedish astronomer and specialist in plasma physics, Alfvén earned his PhD at the University of Uppsala in 1934 and was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 1970. He was long associated with the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, as professor of electricity, then electronics and later (1963–1973) of plasma physics.
Key publications by Alfvén include his Cosmical Electrodynamics (1948), On the Origin of the Solar System (1956), Atom, Man and the Universe (1969) and Cosmic Plasma (1981). Jointly with Gustaf Arrhenius he prepared Evolution of the Solar System, which was issued by NASA as a special publication (No. SP-345, 1976).
Alfvén waves
At very low frequencies a plasma may be considered a low-density, perfectly conducting fluid. In the presence of a static magnetic field, physical displacement of the charged particles can launch magneto-hydrodynamic waves. Mechanical motion of the particles sets up an electromotive force and currents; the currents, in turn,...
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Bibliography
Alfvén, H. (1943) On the existence of electromagnetic-hydrodynamic waves. Arkin for Matematik, Astronomi, och Fysik, 29B(2) 1–7.
Alfvén, H. (1956) On the Origin of the Solar System.
Alfvén, H. (1965) Origin of the Moon. Science, 148, 476–7.
Alfvén, H. and Arrhenius G. (eds) (1976) Evolution of the solar system. Washington: NASA SP-345.
Fonkal, P. V. (1990) Solar Astrophysics. New York: Wiley Interscience. Jackson, J. D (1962) Classical Electrodynamics. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
ter Haar, D. and Cameron, A. G.W. (1967) Solar system: review of theories, in The Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences and Astrogeology (ed. R. W. Fairbridge). New York: Reinhold Publ. Co. pp.890–9.
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Simpson, R.A., Russell, C.T., Fairbridge, R.W. (1997). Alfvén, hannes olof gösta (1908–1995), and alfvén wave. In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Science. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4520-4_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4520-4_8
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