Hannes
Alfvén
(1908-1995)
 Hannes
Alfvén was born in Norrkorping,
Sweden in 1908. Many physical
concepts that he suggested
continue to inform the work
of scientists who are working
in the fields of plasma and
space physics. Alfvén
is best known for his discovery
of hydrodynamic waves, in which
he showed that an electromagnetic
wave could move through a medium
like a plasma that is highly
conductive (They are also called
Alfvén waves.) He was
the first to suggest (in 1937)
that the galaxy itself might
have a magnetic field – an
idea that came to be generally
accepted by scientists in the
1980s.
Alfvén’s
ideas were often unpopular
with other scientists, as he
sometimes made suggestions
that contradicted established
notions. Despite the struggle
to gain acceptance of his theories,
Alfvén was often vindicated
years or decades after he first
proposed them. He received
the Nobel Prize in Physics
in 1970.
Some
applications of Alfvén’s
research: explanations of the
Van Allen radiation belts,
the shrinking of Earth's magnetic
field during magnetic storms,
the formation of comet tails,
the formation of the solar
system and the dynamics of
plasmas in our galaxy.
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