Plasma vortex structures and the evolution of the solar system—the legacy of Hannes Alfvén

Abstract

In this report we address the present knowledge of plasma vortex structures and how that impacts on cosmogony, the evolution of the solar system, as it was conceived by Hannes Alfvén in 1954. Although plasma vortex structures are well known phenomena in contemporary space plasma physics, few attempts have been made to associate plasma vortices with large astrophysical objects. Indeed, Hannes Alfvén was a pioneer in this respect by associating the early solar system with a plasma vortex. Despite obvious merits from an observational and theoretical point of view, Alfvén-cosmogony based on a synthesis between space plasma physics and contemporary planetology have had few proponents. In fact, few people outside the space plasma physics community appear to appreciate the evolutionary thesis by Hannes Alfvén and his coworker Gustaf Arrhenius.Alfvén cosmogony is based on three principles. (1) The evolution of the solar nebula into the early sun and its planets was a plasma-physics process where electromagnetic forces combine with gravitational forces. (2) Chemical separation of matter in the solar system was governed by the critical velocity ionization effect. (3) The transfer of angular momentum from the magnetized sun to the planets was due to partial plasma corotation in the early solar nebula. In this report some important aspects of plasma vortex structures and the Alfvén cosmogony will be addressed and it will be shown that a number of new observations within the plasma environment of planets and in interplanetary space corroborate cosmogony as envisaged by Hannes Alfvén.