DAMPING AND POLARIZATION OF PLANE MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC WAVES.

Abstract

This paper considers the influence of resistive dissipation on the properties of plane, timeharmonic, small-amplitude magnetohydrodynamic waves in a compressible fluid immersed in a homogeneous magnetic field. As the electrical conductivity decreases from infinity to zero, either the fast or slow magnetoacoustic wave transformsto an ordinary sound wave. The description of this transition depends on whether the Alfven speed is less than, equal to, or greater than the sound speed. The fluid displacement in the fast and slow waves is, in general, elliptically polarized in a plane parallel to the magnetic field and the wave normal. In some cases the dissipation may have a considerable effect on the polarization of a wave, even though the wave is relatively weakly damped. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1963
Accession Number
AD0420544

Entities

People

  • S. I. Herlitz

Organizations

  • Uppsala University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Propagation
  • Acoustic Waves
  • Amplitude
  • Conductivity
  • Displacement
  • Dissipation
  • Electrical Conductivity
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Magnetohydrodynamic Waves
  • Polarization
  • Sound Waves
  • Transitions
  • Waves

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Plasma Physics / Magnetohydrodynamics