Hannes Alfvén

Hannes Olof Gösta Alfvén (30 May 1908 – 2 April 1995 ) was a Swedish electrical engineer, plasma physicist and winner of the 1970 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on magnetohydrodynamics (MHD).

He described the class of MHD waves now known as Alfvén waves.

He was originally trained as an electrical power engineer and later moved to research and teaching in the fields of plasma physics and electrical engineering.

Alfvén made many contributions to plasma physics, including theories describing the behavior of aurorae, the Van Allen radiation belts, the effect of magnetic storms on the Earth's magnetic field, the terrestrial magnetosphere, and the dynamics of plasmas in the Milky Way galaxy.

"A study of how a number of the most used textbooks in astrophysics treat important concepts such as double layers, critical velocity, pinch effects, and circuits is made. It is found that students using these textbooks remain essentially ignorant of even the existence of these concepts, despite the fact that some of them have been well known for half a century (e.g, double layers, Langmuir, 1929; pinch effect, Bennet, 1934)."

Alfvén reported that of 17 of the most used textbooks on astrophysics, none mention the pinch effect, none mentioned critical ionization velocity, only two mentioned circuits, and three mentioned double layers.

Alfvén believed the problem with the Big Bang was that astrophysicists tried to extrapolate the origin of the universe from mathematical theories developed on the blackboard, rather than starting from known observable phenomena.

He also considered the Big Bang to be a myth devised to explain creation.

Alfvén received his PhD from the University of Uppsala in 1934.

His thesis was titled "Investigations of High-frequency Electromagnetic Waves."

In 1934, Alfvén taught physics at both the University of Uppsala and the Nobel Institute for Physics (later renamed the Manne Siegbahn Institute of Physics ) in Stockholm, Sweden.

In 1937, Alfvén argued that if plasma pervaded the universe, it could then carry electric currents capable of generating a galactic magnetic field.

After winning the Nobel Prize for his works in magnetohydrodynamics, he emphasized that:

"In order to understand the phenomena in a certain plasma region, it is necessary to map not only the magnetic but also the electric field and the electric currents. Space is filled with a network of currents which transfer energy and momentum over large or very large distances. The currents often pinch to filamentary or surface currents. The latter are likely to give space, as also interstellar and intergalactic space, a cellular structure."

In 1939, Alfvén proposed the theory of magnetic storms and auroras and the theory of plasma dynamics in the Earth's magnetosphere.

This was the paper rejected by the U.S. journal Terrestrial Magnetism and Atmospheric Electricity.

Applications of Alfvén's research in space science include:

Alfvén's views followed those of the founder of magnetospheric physics, Kristian Birkeland.

At the end of the nineteenth century, Birkeland proposed (backed by extensive data) that electric currents flowing down along the Earth's magnetic fields into the atmosphere caused the aurora and polar magnetic disturbances.

Areas of technology benefiting from Alfvén's contributions include:

Contributions to astrophysics:

Alfvén waves (low frequency hydromagnetic plasma oscillations) are named in his honor, and propagate at the Alfvén speed.

In 1940, he became professor of electromagnetic theory and electrical measurements at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

In 1945, he acquired the nonappointive position of Chair of Electronics.

From 1954 to 1955, Alfvén was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Maryland, College Park.

His title was changed to Chair of Plasma Physics in 1963.

In 1967, after leaving Sweden and spending time in the Soviet Union, he moved to the United States.

Alfvén worked in the departments of electrical engineering at both the University of California, San Diego and the University of Southern California.

His theoretical work on field-aligned electric currents in the aurora (based on earlier work by Kristian Birkeland) was confirmed in 1967, these currents now being known as Birkeland currents.

British scientist Sydney Chapman was a strong critic of Alfvén.

Many physicists regarded Alfvén as espousing unorthodox opinions R. H. Stuewer noting that "... he remained an embittered outsider, winning little respect from other scientists even after he received the Nobel Prize..."

and was often forced to publish his papers in obscure journals.

Alfvén recalled:

"When I describe [plasma phenomena] according to this formalism most referees do not understand what I say and turn down my papers. With the referee system which rules US science today, this means that my papers are rarely accepted by the leading US journals."

Alfvén played a central role in the development of:

Many of his theories about the solar system were verified as late as the 1980s through external measurements of cometary and planetary magnetospheres.

However, Alfvén himself noted that astrophysical textbooks poorly represented known plasma phenomena:

In 1991, Alfvén retired as professor of electrical engineering at the University of California, San Diego and professor of plasma physics at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

Alfvén spent his later adult life alternating between California and Sweden.

He died at the age of 86.