Home▸Plasma Physics▸Alfvén Wave Propagation — Frozen-In Magnetized Plasma

Alfvén Wave Propagation in a Magnetized Plasma

Pluck a magnetized plasma flux-rope and watch a transverse Alfvén wave travel along the frozen-in field lines. Tune magnetic field strength and plasma density and measure the propagation speed against the theoretical v_A = B / sqrt(mu0 * rho).

Plasma Physics3DAdvanced60 FPS⚡ Plasma

Because a highly-conducting plasma drags magnetic field lines along with it (and the field lines drag the plasma right back), a sideways displacement of the field propagates as a transverse Alfvén wave at speed v_A = B / √(μ₀ρ). This simulation solves that 1D wave equation directly along a bundle of "frozen-in" field-line strands, dragging small ion markers with them, so you can pluck the rope, watch the pulse travel, and measure its speed against the formula as you change the magnetic field strength and plasma density.

⚙ Under the hood

Pluck a magnetized plasma flux-rope and watch a transverse Alfvén wave travel along the frozen-in field lines, dragging ion markers with it. Tune magnetic field strength and plasma density, then measure the propagation speed against the theoretical v_A = B / sqrt(mu0 * rho).

Plasma PhysicsAlfvén WaveMHDMagnetic FieldFrozen-In FluxThree.js

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install