poloidal

See also: poloïdal

English

Sense #3. Poloidal direction: red. Toroidal direction: blue. Radial coordinate: not indicated.

Etymology

From poloid +‎ -al.

Adjective

poloidal (comparative more poloidal, superlative most poloidal)

1. Of, pertaining to, or shaped like a poloid.
   • 2013, Gary T. Yamaguchi, Dynamic Modeling of Musculoskeletal Motion, page 150:

     Two different pathways, called poloids, are obtained depending on whether A is considered as the fixed frame, or whether B is considered as the fixed frame. The two poloidal curves roll on each other, […]

2. (physics) Between the poles of a magnet.
   • 2023, William Lowrie, The Earth's Magnetic Field, page 47:

     A poloidal magnetic field has closed field lines that begin and end on fictitious “poles," as in the case of a bar magnet or William Gilbert's lodestone.

3. Having a direction on a torus perpendicular to a line that traces around the outside of a torus, or on a sphere perpendicular to the equator, going through both poles.
   • 1999, Michael W. McElhinny, ‎Phillip L. McFadden, Paleomagnetism: Continents and Oceans, page 11:

     The magnetic field can be written as the sum of a poloidal field and a toroidal field, and many of the concepts of dynamo theory revolve around the question of how to generate a toroidal field from a poloidal field and, conversely, how to generate a poloidal field from a toroidal field.

   • 2012, Ren Wang, ‎Keiiti Aki, Mechanics Problems in Geodynamics Part I, page 497:

     While the slope of the toroidal velocity distribution at the outer surface is generally in good agreement with the observed surface value, poloidal velocity consistently shows reduced energy at low harmonics .

Translations

Translations

• French: poloïdal (fr)