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Tuesday, June 20, 2006
1:00 PM - 1:30 PM
CNLS Conference Room

Seminar

Breakdown of Alfven's Theorem in Ideal MHD

Hussein Aluie
John's Hopkins University / LANL

In 1942, Hannes Alfven showed that magnetic field lines are frozen into an ideal fluid, a result which has been a cornerstone for explaining phenomena in astrophysics and many other areas in which the ideal limit holds. We show that this theorem can break down in certain regimes due to the non-linear effects acting across the scales. We believe that this breakdown might hold the key to a fast magnetic-reconnection theory which has eluded astrophysicists for decades. This is an on-going work with my advisor, Gregory Eyink, the CNLS Ulam Scholar.

Host: Greg Eyink, CNLS