New views of the solar wind with the Lambert W function
Author:
- 22 September 2004
- journal article
- Published by American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) in American Journal of Physics
- Vol. 72 (11) , 1397-1403
Abstract
This paper presents closed-form analytic solutions to two illustrative problems in solar physics that have been considered not solvable in this way previously. Both the outflow speed and the mass loss rate of the solar wind of plasma particles ejected by the Sun are derived analytically for certain illustrative approximations. The calculated radial dependence of the flow speed applies to both Parker’s isothermal solar wind equation and Bondi’s equation of spherical accretion. These problems involve the solution of transcendental equations containing products of variables and their logarithms. Such equations appear in many fields of physics and are solvable by use of the Lambert W function, which is briefly described. This paper is an example of how new functions can be applied to existing problems.Keywords
All Related Versions
This publication has 18 references indexed in Scilit:
- Some applications of the Lambert W function to classical statistical mechanicsJournal of Physics A: General Physics, 2003
- Coronal Holes and the High-Speed Solar WindSpace Science Reviews, 2002
- The New Solar CoronaAnnual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2001
- The heliosphere after UlyssesAstrophysics and Space Science, 2001
- Hydrodynamics of the Solar Wind ExpansionAstrophysics and Space Science, 2001
- AN ANALYTIC APPROACH TO PERTURBATIVE QCDInternational Journal of Modern Physics A, 2000
- Exact solution for the metric and the motion of two bodies in (1+1)-dimensional gravityPhysical Review D, 1997
- On the LambertW functionAdvances in Computational Mathematics, 1996
- Dynamics of the Interplanetary Gas and Magnetic Fields.The Astrophysical Journal, 1958
- On Spherically Symmetrical AccretionMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 1952