Hannes Alfvén
Alfvén, Hannes
Born May 30, 1908. Swedish physicist, member of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
Since 1940, Alfvén has been a professor in the Department of Electronics of the University of Stockholm. His basic work has been in cosmic radiation, electron accelerators, and electrodynamics. Alfvén created a new branch of science (cosmic electrodynamics) and discovered a form of magnetodynamic wave (the so-called Alfvén wave). Under Alfvén’s direction work has been conducted in modeling the interaction of the earth’s magnetosphere with solar winds. He developed theories on the formation of the aurora borealis, geomagnetic storms, and the solar system.
Alfvén has been a foreign member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR since 1958. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1971.
WORKS
On the Origin of the Solar System. Oxford, 1954.In Russian translation:
Kosmicheskaia elektrodinamika. Moscow, 1952.