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The Plasma Universe is a term coined by Hannes Alfvén in the mid-1980s to describe his view that plasma and its known laboratory properties, plays a more significant role in the Universe than is generally accepted. [1] [2] [3]. The Plasma Universe includes fields of study that are well accepted and understood in astrophysical plasmas, and other plasma phenomena (described below) whose application to cosmic plasmas is considered by a much smaller number of scientists. [4].
The Plasma Universe is applied to diverse areas of astronomy, [5], including the origin of the Universe (Plasma cosmology)[6], the formation of galaxies, [7], stars[8], planetary rings, to areas such jets [9], quantized redshift[10], and the Titius-Bode law[11], and the origin of synchrotron radiation[12], cosmic rays[13], the cellular nature of space[14], and electric currents in cosmic plasmas[15], and the evolution of the Solar System (hetegony)[16].
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[edit] Plasma astrophysics comparison
Plasma is known to make up, and play an important role in the Sun and stars, interplanetary space and its heliospheric current sheet, the Earth's plasmasphere and that of other planets, interstellar space and intergalactic space.
The Plasma Universe considers certain plasma phenomena that are seen in the laboratory, to play a much more influential role in space plasmas. For example:
| Plasma Universe | "Standard" Astrophysical plasmas | |
| General approach | Application of known lab physics only | Known physics and "new" physics |
| Plasma description | "Real:" Magnetic & electric description MHD and non-MHD |
"Pseudo-plasma:" Ideal fluid Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) |
| Dominant force | Electromagnetic for all charged particles, gravity for larger grains |
Gravity |
| Electric currents (Birkeland currents) |
Atmosphere, Stellar, Interplanetary, Interstellar, Intergalactic |
Limited: Atmosphere Solar ? |
| Cosmic electric circuits | Yes | No |
| "Invisible" energy transfer | Yes: via circuits | No |
| Double layers | Prevalent | Limited |
| Filamentation | Pinched currents | Magnetic? |
| Particle beams | Prevalent | Perhaps? |
| Galaxy formation | Interacting Birkeland currents | Gravity and dark matter |
| Electric chemical separation | Yes: "Marklund convection" | No |
| Star formation | Plasma pinch | Nuclear fusion |
| Synchrotron radiation | Electric fields | Black holes, gravity |
| Cosmology | Plasma cosmology | Standard cosmology |
| Big Bang | No: "Steady State" | Yes |
| Black holes | No | Yes |
| Neutron stars | No | Yes |
| Dark matter | No | Yes |
| Dark energy | No | Yes |
| Magnetic reconnection | No (Pedagogic tool) | Yes |
| Redshift | Plasma redshift, Wolf effect ? | Cosmological |
[edit] History
Hannes Alfvén derived his model of the Plasma Universe based on his experience in the field. He has been called "the father of the modern discipline of classical physics known as hydromagnetism or magnetohydrodynamics"[17], a discipline he developed in the 1940s, and leading to his awarding of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1970 for "for fundamental work and discoveries in magneto-hydrodynamics with fruitful applications in different parts of plasma physics"[18].
Inspired by the earlier work of Kristian Birkeland credit with producing one of the first laboratory models of the Earth's aurora in the early 1900s, Nobel prize-winning physicist Irving Langmuir who did significant work on plasma, Alfvén postulated in 1937, that if plasma pervaded the universe, then it could carry electric currents that could generate a galactic magnetic field[19]
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."[20]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Carl-Gunn Fälthammar wrote: "... 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" 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.
- ^ Alfvnén wrote that the Plasma Universe is a "...model based on the emissions and behavior of the most prevalent material in the universe.. plasma" Alfven, Hannes, "Model of the plasma universe" (1986) IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science (ISSN 0093-3813), vol. PS-14, Dec. 1986, p. 629-638.
- ^ Hannes Alfvén, "The plasma universe" Physics Today, Sep 1986
- ^ See for example "An Open Letter to the Scientific Community", originally published in New Scientist
- ^ Peratt, A. L., "Physics of the Plasma Universe" 372 pp. 208 figs.. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York
- ^ Hannes Alfvén, "Cosmology in the plasma universe" (1988) Laser and Particle Beams (ISSN 0263-0346), vol. 6, Aug. 1988, p. 389-398
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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
- ^ Peratt, Anthony L., "The role of particle beams and electrical currents in the plasma universe" (1988) Laser and Particle Beams (ISSN 0263-0346), vol. 6, Aug. 1988, p. 471-491
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Peratt, A. L., "Electric space : evolution of the plasma universe." (1996) Astrophys. Space Sci., 244, 89-103 (1996)
- ^ Hannes Alfvén and Gustaf Arrhenius, "Plasma Physics and Hetegony" in Evolution of the Solar System (1976) NASA Publication SP-345
- ^ See biography at the end of Alfven's paper "Cosmology in the plasma universe - an introductory exposition", ibid.
- ^ See NobelPrize.org
- ^ Alfvén, H., 1937 "Cosmic Radiation as an Intra-galactic Phenomenon", Ark. f. mat., astr. o. fys. 25B, no. 29.
- ^ Alfvén, H., Cosmical Electrodynamics, Oxford Clarendon Press, 1950 (Note: this substantially different from the later 2nd edition)
[edit] References
- Alfvén, H., Cosmic Plasma (Book) Astrophysics and Space Science Library. Volume 82, 1981. 178 p.
- Lerner, E., The Big Bang Never Happened, New York: Times Books/Random House, c1991. 1st ed.
- Peratt, A. L., "Physics of the Plasma Universe" (Book) 372pp. 208 figs.. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York
- IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science: Vol 14 No 6 (Dec 1986); Vol 17 No 2 (Apr 1989); Vol 18 No 1 (Feb 1990); Vol 20 No 6 (Dec 1992); Vol 31 No 6 (Dec 2003);
- Laser and Particle Beams Vol 6 Part 3 (Aug 1988)
[edit] External Links
- The Plasma Universe at Los Alamos National Laboratory
- The Big Bang Never Happened, Eric Lerner. See also:
- Edward Wright, "Errors in the "The Big Bang Never Happened".
- Eric Lerner, "Dr. Wright is Wrong -- a reply to Ned Wright's "Errors in The Big Bang Never Happened"
