In 1937, Alfvén argued that ifplasma pervaded the universe, it could then carry electric currents capable of generating a galactic magnetic field.[5] After winning the Nobel Prize for his works inmagnetohydrodynamics, 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, acellular structure.[6]
His theoretical work on field-aligned electric currents in the aurora (based on earlier work byKristian Birkeland) was confirmed in 1967,[7] these currents now being known asBirkeland currents.
British scientistSydney Chapman was a strong critic of Alfvén.[8] Many physicists regarded Alfvén as espousingunorthodox opinions[9]R. H. Stuewer noting that "... he remained an embittered outsider, winning little respect from other scientists even after he received the Nobel Prize..."[10] 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.[11]
Alfvén played a central role in the development of:
In 1939, Alfvén proposed the theory ofmagnetic storms and auroras and the theory ofplasma dynamics in theEarth'smagnetosphere. This was the paper rejected by the U.S. journalTerrestrial 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:
Alfvén waves (lowfrequency hydromagnetic plasmaoscillations) are named in his honor, and propagate at the Alfvén speed. 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:
A study of how a number of the most used textbooks in astrophysics treat important concepts such asdouble 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).[12]
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 theBig Bang was that astrophysicists tried to extrapolate the origin of the universe frommathematical theories developed on the blackboard, rather than starting from known observable phenomena. He also considered the Big Bang to be amyth devised to explain creation.[13] Alfvén and colleagues proposed theAlfvén–Klein model as an alternativecosmological theory to both theBig Bang andsteady state theory cosmologies.
Alfvén was married for 67 years to his wife Kerstin (1910–1992). They raised five children, one boy and four girls. Their son became a physician, while one daughter became a writer and another a lawyer in Sweden. The writer wasInger Alfvén and is well known for her work in Sweden. The composerHugo Alfvén was Hannes Alfvén's uncle.
Alfvén studied thehistory of science,oriental philosophy, andreligion. On his religious views, Alfven wasirreligious and critical of religion.[14][15] He spoke Swedish, English, German, French, and Russian, and some Spanish and Chinese. He expressed great concern about the difficulties of permanenthigh-level radioactive waste management."[16] Alfvén was also interested in problems in cosmology and all aspects of auroral physics, and used Schröder's well known book on aurora,Das Phänomen des Polarlichts.[17] Letters of Alfvén, Treder, and Schröder were published on the occasion of Treder's 70th birthday.[18][19] The relationships between Hans-Jürgen Treder, Hannes Alfvén and Wilfried Schröder were discussed in detail by Schröder in his publications.
Cosmical Electrodynamics, International Series of Monographs on Physics, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1950. (See also 2nd Ed. 1963, co-authored with Carl-Gunne Fälthammar.)
Worlds-Antiworlds: Antimatter in Cosmology (1966).
Schröder, Wilfried, and Hans Jürgen Treder. 2007.Theoretical physics and geophysics: Recollections of Hans-Jürgen Treder (1928–2006). Potsdam: Science Editions.
Energy source of the solar wind with Per Carlqvist (1980) (PDF) A direct transfer of energy from photospheric activity to the solar wind by means of electric currents is discussed.
^Peratt, A. L.; Peter, W.; Snell, C. M. (June 19–23, 1989). "3-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of spiral galaxies".Proceedings of the 140th Symposium of IAU. Galactic and intergalactic magnetic fields. Heidelberg, Federal Republic of Germany: Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 143–150.Bibcode:1990IAUS..140..143P.
^S. Chapman and J. Bartels,Geomagnetism," Vol. 1 and 2, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1940.
^Hannes Alfvén, "Memoirs of a Dissident Scientist",American Scientist, Volume 76, No 3, May–June 1988, pp. 249–251. Quoted in Joseph Paul Martino,Science Funding: Politics and Porkbarrel 1992, Transaction Publishers,ISBN1-56000-033-3
^"Nuclear power is uniquely unforgiving: as Swedish Nobel physicist Hannes Alfvén said, "No acts of God can be permitted."" Amory Lovins,Inside NOVA – Nuclear After Japan: Amory Lovins,pbs.org.
^Helge Kragh (2004).Matter and Spirit in the Universe: Scientific and Religious Preludes to Modern Cosmology. OECD Publishing. p. 252.ISBN978-1-86094-469-7.Alfven dismissed in his address religion as a "myth," and passionately criticized the big-bang theory for being dogmatic and violating basic standards of science, to be no less mythical than religion.
^Schröder, Wilfried . 2000. The Aurora in time. (Das Phänomen des Polarlichts). Darmstadt: Reproduction.
^Schröder, Wilfried, and Hans Jürgen Treder. 1998.From Newton to Einstein: A festschrift in honour of the 70th birthday of Hans-Jürgen Treder. Bremen: Rönnebeck; Arbeitskreis Geschichte der Geophysik in der Deutschen Geophysikalischen Gesellschaft.
^Schröder, Wilfried, and Hans Jürgen Treder. 1993.The earth and the universe: A festschrift in honour of Hans-Jürgen Treder. Bremen-Rönnebeck: Science Editions.
Hannes Alfvén Medal – awarded for outstanding scientific contributions towards the understanding of plasma processes in the Solar System and other cosmical plasma environments
