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Magneto-Fluid Dynamics

Fundamentals and Case Studies of Natural Phenomena

  • Book
  • © 2006

Overview

Authors:
  1. Paul Lorrain
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  2. François Lorrain

    1. Département de mathématiques et d’informatique, Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, Montréal, Canada

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  3. Stéphane Houle

    1. Département de physique, Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, Montréal, Canada

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  • Provides an understanding of the physics at work in sunspots and solar coronal loops
  • This book provides a new approach to Magneto-Fluid-Dynamics (or Magneto-Hydro-Dynamics), mainly in two different ways
  • Contrary to the usual custom of discussing imaginary magnetic field lines, the book focuses on the electric currents that are induced in conductors that move in magnetic fields

Part of the book series: Astronomy and Astrophysics Library (AAL)

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Table of contents (18 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages I-XXX
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  2. The Early History

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
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    2. The Early History

      Pages 3-15

  3. Fundamentals

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 17-17
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    2. The Maxwell Equations

      Pages 19-30

    3. Electric Fields

      Pages 31-44

    4. Constant Magnetic Fields

      Pages 45-62

    5. Time-dependent Magnetic Fields: The Law of Faraday

      Pages 63-69
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Keywords

About this book

Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) concerns the interaction between magnetic fields and conducting fluids. We are concerned here with macroscopic inter­ actions and, when the conducting fluid is a plasma, time scales are very much longer than the plasma period. Plasma periods vary widely, but are short, say 10~^^ second. We prefer the term Magneto-F/i^Z(i-Dynamics (MFD) because the disci­ pline concerns mostly plasmas, various liquid conductors, and the liquid part of the Earth's core. It seems that the only applications of MFD to water are the induction of electric currents in the oceans by the Earth's magnetic field, and ship propulsion. But even MFD is not quite appropriate because that term also includes solid conductors that move in magnetic fields. This book is meant for graduate and upper-division undergraduate stu­ dents in Physics, Geophysics, and Astrophysics, as well as for practicing sci­ entists in these fields. This book is no more than a brief introduction to MFD because this vast subject is closely related to many others, namely Astrophysics, Elec­ trodynamics, Fluid Dynamics, Geophysics, Oceanography, Plasma Physics, Thermonuclear Fusion, etc. We sketch the fundamentals, and provide many Examples, as well as Case Studies related to natural phenomena. MFD sorely needs a rethink: it must of course be totally compatible with Physics. On the contrary, it is the custom to discuss the shapes of imaginary magnetic field lines, without ever referring to the required electric currents.

Reviews

From the reviews: “This text is an interesting, and clearly structured introduction to dynamo theory inspired from the study of natural dynamos, particularly within the solar environment. It provides an enticing flavour of the modelling of a wide variety of electromagnetic phenomena. … The text is intended primarily for advanced undergraduates and postgraduates in physics, geophysics and astrophysics. … The essentially independent case studies make this book ideal to dip in and out of and to use as a source of reference on magneto-fluid phenomena … .” (Anne Juel, Contemporary Physics, Vol. 51 (1), 2010)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Département de mathématiques et d’informatique, Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, Montréal, Canada

    François Lorrain

  • Département de physique, Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, Montréal, Canada

    Stéphane Houle

About the authors

Paul Lorrain is the main author of three books: Electromagnetic Fields and Waves, third edition 1988, Electromagnetism, Principles and Applications, second edition, 1990, and Fundamentals of Electromagnetic Phenomena, first edition 2000, all published by Freeman, New York.  He is also the main author of 22 papers published in the last 22 years in major physics, astrophysics, and plasma physics journals.  He has worked in universities and research institutes in several countries.  He is presently Visiting Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at McGill University in Montréal, Canada.

François Lorrain is a co-author of the first and third of the above three books. He has also published a book, Réseaux sociaux et classifications sociales ; essai sur l’algèbre et la géométrie des structures sociales, Hermann, Paris, 1975. In relation to Magneto-Fluid-Dynamics, he has recently published an article entitled "Estimating the order of magnitude of derivatives in physics by means of characteristic lengths and times" in the American Journal of Physics, 72 (5), May 2004, pp. 683-690. Presently he teaches in the Département de mathématiques et d’informatique, Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, Montréal (QC), Canada.

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