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Published August 1961 | Published
Journal Article Open

Propagation of a solitary wave along a magnetic field in a cold collision-free plasma

Saffman, P. G.

Abstract

It is shown that solitary hydromagnetic waves can propagate parallel to a uniform magnetic field in a cold collision-free plasma. These waves are exact solutions of the non-linear equations of motion except for the quasi-neutral approximation. The velocity of propagation lies in a range of values somewhat larger than the Alfvén velocity, and is of the order of 25 times the Alfvén velocity for hydrogen, the precise value depending upon the strength of the wave. Simple expressions exist for the velocities of the ions and electrons and the magnetic field inside the wave. The lines of force are spirals about the direction of propagation. The waves are symmetrical about their middle. The order of magnitude of their width is the geometric mean of the gyro-radii of the ions and electrons when moving with the Alfvén velocity. The maximum value of the magnetic field can be somewhat larger than the value away from the wave.

Additional Information

© 1961 Cambridge University Press. (Received 10 February 1961) I am grateful to Dr J. A. Shercliff for a suggestion which led to the present work.

Attached Files

Published - propagation_of_a_solitary_wave_along_a_magnetic_field_in_a_cold_collisionfree_plasma.pdf

Files

propagation_of_a_solitary_wave_along_a_magnetic_field_in_a_cold_collisionfree_plasma.pdf

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 19, 2023