A divergenceless field can be partitioned into a toroidal and a poloidal part. This separation is important in geo- and heliophysics, and in particular in dynamo theory and helioseismology.
Poloidal Field
See also
Divergenceless Field, Toroidal FieldReferences
Krause, F. and Raedler, K.-H. Mean-Field Magnetohydrodynamics and Dynamo Theory. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, pp. 163 and 167, 1980.Roberts, P. H. An Introduction to Magnetohydrodynamics. New York: American Elsevier, p. 81, 1967.Stacey, F. D. Physics of the Earth, 2nd ed. New York: Wiley, p. 239, 1977.Referenced on Wolfram|Alpha
Poloidal FieldCite this as:
Weisstein, Eric W. "Poloidal Field." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/PoloidalField.html