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Revision as of 17:12, 26 May 2006 editජපස (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers60,456 edits →History: why the accolades for Birkeland and Langmuir that have nothing to do with the distinction Plasma Universe makes with other ideas?← Previous edit Revision as of 17:14, 26 May 2006 edit undoජපස (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers60,456 edits →History: who stated that space was a perfect vacuum? It wasn't Thorndike.Next edit →
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==History== ==History==
Hannes Alfvén developed his idea of the "Plasma Universe" based on his experience in the field. Inspired by the earlier work of ] and ], that although interstellar space was thought to be a vacuum<ref>In 1930, astronomer Samuel L. Thorndike was also arguing that interstellar space may not be a vacuum. He notes that ".. it could scarcely have been believed that the enormous gaps between the stars are completely void. Terrestrial aurorae are not improbably excited by charged particles from the Sun emitted by the Sun. If the millions of other stars are also ejecting ions, as is undoubtedly true, no absolute vacuum can exist within the galaxy". See Thorndike, S. L., "" (1930) ''Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific'', Vol. 42, No. 246, p.99</ref> and consequently unable to support an electrical current, he argued that if plasma pervaded the universe, then it could carry electric currents that could generate a galactic magnetic field<ref>Alfvén, H., 1937 "Cosmic Radiation as an Intra-galactic Phenomenon", ''Ark. f. mat., astr. o. fys.'' 25B, no. 29.</ref> Hannes Alfvén developed his idea of the "Plasma Universe" based on his experience in the field. Inspired by the earlier work of ] and ], Alfvén proposed that although interstellar space was thought to be a ]{{citation needed}} and consequently unable to support an electrical current, he argued that if plasma pervaded the universe, then it could carry electric currents that could generate a galactic magnetic field<ref>Alfvén, H., 1937 "Cosmic Radiation as an Intra-galactic Phenomenon", ''Ark. f. mat., astr. o. fys.'' 25B, no. 29.</ref>


In 1950, Alfvén published the first edition of his book ''Cosmical Electrodynamics'' in which he highlights: In 1950, Alfvén published the first edition of his book ''Cosmical Electrodynamics'' in which he highlights:

Revision as of 17:14, 26 May 2006

It has been suggested that this article be merged into Plasma cosmology. (Discuss)

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File:Plasma-physics-today-1986-sep.jpg
The Plasma Universe issue of Physics Today (Sep 1986) featuring Hannes Alfvén's popular introductory article on the subject

The Plasma Universe is based on Hannes Alfvén's "...model based on the emissions and behavior of the most prevalent material in the universe.. plasma" . The term was coined to "... emphasize the fact that plasma phenomenon discovered in the laboratory and in accessible regions of space, must be important also in the rest of the universe, which consists almost entirely of matter in the plasma state" While most of the baryonic matter in the universe is plasma, consensus of astronomers is that upwards of 96% of the material energy-density in the universe is non-baryonic dark matter or dark energy. As such, the suggestions of the Plasma Universe as it regards cosmology is nonstandard.

The Plasma Universe has been applied to diverse areas of astronomy, including the origin of the Universe, the formation of galaxies, stars, planetary rings, to areas such jets , quantized redshift, and the Titius-Bode law, and the origin of cosmic rays, the cellular nature of space, and electric currents in cosmic plasmas.

History

Hannes Alfvén developed his idea of the "Plasma Universe" based on his experience in the field. Inspired by the earlier work of Kristian Birkeland and Irving Langmuir, Alfvén proposed that although interstellar space was thought to be a perfect vacuum and consequently unable to support an electrical current, he argued that if plasma pervaded the universe, then it could carry electric currents that could generate a galactic magnetic field

In 1950, Alfvén published the first edition of his book Cosmical Electrodynamics in which he highlights:

"Physics is mainly based on experience gained in the laboratory. When we try to apply to cosmic phenomenon the laws in which this experience is condensed, we make an enormous extrapolation, the legitimacy of which can be checked only by comparing the theoretical results with observations.
It seems very probably that electromagnetic phenomenon will prove to be of great importance in cosmic physics. No definite reasons are known why it should not be possible to extrapolate the laboratory results in this field to cosmic physics."

Footnotes

  1. Alfven, Hannes, "Model of the plasma universe" (1986) IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science (ISSN 0093-3813), vol. PS-14, Dec. 1986, p. 629-638.
  2. Hannes Alfvén, "The plasma universe" Physics Today, Sep 1986
  3. Falthammar, C. G. "The Plasma Universe" Basic Plasma Processes in the Sun. Proceedings of the 142nd. Symposium of the International Astronomical Union, held in Bangalore, India, December 1-5, 1989.
  4. Peratt, A. L., "Physics of the Plasma Universe" 372 pp. 208 figs.. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York
  5. Hannes Alfvén, "Cosmology in the plasma universe" (1988) Laser and Particle Beams (ISSN 0263-0346), vol. 6, Aug. 1988, p. 389-398
  6. Peratt, Anthony L., "Evolution of the plasma universe. II - The formation of systems of galaxies" (1986) IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science (ISSN 0093-3813), vol. PS-14, Dec. 1986, p. 763-778.
  7. Alfven, H.; Carlqvist, P., "Interstellar clouds and the formation of stars" (1978) Astrophysics and Space Science, vol. 55, no. 2, May 1978, p. 487-509
  8. Peratt, Anthony L. "Evolution of the plasma universe. I - Double radio galaxies, quasars, and extragalactic jets" (1986) IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science (ISSN 0093-3813), vol. PS-14, Dec. 1986, p. 639-660.
  9. Wells, Daniel R.; Bourouis, Mohammad, "Quantization effects in the plasma universe" (1989) IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science (ISSN 0093-3813), vol. 17, April 1989, p. 270-281.
  10. Wells, Daniel R., "Was the Titius-Bode series dictated by the minimum energy states of the generic solar plasma?" (1990) IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science (ISSN 0093-3813), vol. 18, Feb. 1990, p. 73-76
  11. Trubnikov, Boris A. "A new hypothesis of cosmic ray generation in plasma pinches" (1992) IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science (ISSN 0093-3813), vol. 20, no. 6, p. 898-904.
  12. Alfven, H. "Cosmology in the plasma universe - an introductory exposition" (1990) IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science (ISSN 0093-3813), vol. 18, Feb. 1990, p. 5-10.
  13. Peratt, A. L., "Electric space : evolution of the plasma universe." (1996) Astrophys. Space Sci., 244, 89-103 (1996)
  14. Alfvén, H., 1937 "Cosmic Radiation as an Intra-galactic Phenomenon", Ark. f. mat., astr. o. fys. 25B, no. 29.
  15. Alfvén, H., Cosmical Electrodynamics, Oxford Clarendon Press, 1950 (Note: this substantially different from the later 2nd edition)

References


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