Introduction to Plasma Physics: With Space, Laboratory and Astrophysical Applications

✍ Scribed by Donald A. Gurnett, Amitava Bhattacharjee

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2017
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 535
• Edition: 2
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Introducing basic principles of plasma physics and their applications to space, laboratory and astrophysical plasmas, this new edition provides updated material throughout. Topics covered include single-particle motions, kinetic theory, magnetohydrodynamics, small amplitude waves in hot and cold plasmas, and collisional effects. New additions include the ponderomotive force, tearing instabilities in resistive plasmas and the magnetorotational instability in accretion disks, charged particle acceleration by shocks, and a more in-depth look at nonlinear phenomena. A broad range of applications are explored: planetary magnetospheres and radiation belts, the confinement and stability of plasmas in fusion devices, the propagation of discontinuities and shock waves in the solar wind, and analysis of various types of plasma waves and instabilities that can occur in planetary magnetospheres and laboratory plasma devices. With step-by-step derivations and self-contained introductions to mathematical methods, this book is ideal as an advanced undergraduate to graduate-level textbook, or as a reference for researchers.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents
Preface
1 Introduction
2 Characteristic Parameters of a Plasma
2.1 Number Density and Temperature
2.2 Debye Length
2.3 Plasma Frequency
2.4 Cyclotron Frequency
2.5 Collision Frequency
2.6 Number of Electrons per Debye Cube
2.7 The de Broglie Wavelength and Quantum Effects
References
Further Reading
3 Single-Particle Motions
3.1 Motion in a Static Uniform Magnetic Field
3.2 Motion in Static and Uniform Electric and Magnetic Fields
3.3 Gradient and Curvature Drifts
3.4 Motion in a Magnetic Mirror Field
3.5 Motion in a Time Varying Magnetic Field
3.6 Polarization Drift
3.7 Ponderomotive Force
3.8 Adiabatic Invariants
3.9 The Hamiltonian Method
3.10 Hamiltonian Chaos
References
Further Reading
4 Waves in a Cold Plasma
4.1 Fourier Representation of Waves
4.2 General Form of the Dispersion Relation
4.3 Waves in a Cold Uniform Unmagnetized Plasma
4.4 Waves in a Cold Uniform Magnetized Plasma
4.5 Ray Paths in Inhomogeneous Plasmas
References
Further Reading
5 Kinetic Theory and the Moment Equations
5.1 The Distribution Function
5.2 The Boltzmann and Vlasov Equations
5.3 Solutions Based on Constants of the Motion
5.4 The Moment Equations
5.5 Electron and Ion Pressure Waves
5.6 Collisional Drag Force
5.7 Ambipolar Diffusion
References
Further Reading
6 Magnetohydrodynamics
6.1 The Basic Equations of MHD
6.2 Magnetic Pressure
6.3 Magnetic Field Convection and Diffusion
6.4 Conservation Relations in Ideal MHD
6.5 Magnetohydrodynamic Waves
6.6 Validity of Resistive MHD Equations
References
Further Reading
7 MHD Equilibria and Stability
7.1 Magnetostatic Equilibria
7.2 Magnetohydrodynamic Equilibria
7.3 Stability of Ideal Magnetostatic Equilibria
7.4 Stability of Ideal Magnetohydrodynamic Equilibria
7.5 Resistive Instabilities
7.6 Magnetic Reconnection
References
Further Reading
8 Discontinuities and Shock Waves
8.1 The MHD Jump Conditions
8.2 Classification of Discontinuities
8.3 Shock Waves
8.4 Charged Particle Acceleration by MHD Shocks
References
Further Reading
9 Electrostatic Waves in a Hot Unmagnetized Plasma
9.1 The Vlasov Approach
9.2 The Landau Approach
9.3 The Plasma Dispersion Function
9.4 The Dispersion Relation for a Multi-component Plasma
9.5 Stability
References
Further Reading
10 Waves in a Hot Magnetized Plasma
10.1 Linearization of the Vlasov Equation
10.2 Electrostatic Waves
10.3 Electromagnetic Waves
References
Further Reading
11 Nonlinear Effects
11.1 Quasi-linear Theory
11.2 Wave–Wave Interactions
11.3 Langmuir Wave Solitons
11.4 Stationary Nonlinear Electrostatic Potentials
References
Further Reading
12 Collisional Processes
12.1 Binary Coulomb Collisions
12.2 Importance of Small-Angle Collisions
12.3 The Fokker–Planck Equation
12.4 Conductivity of a Fully Ionized Plasma
12.5 Collision Operator for Maxwellian Distributions of Electrons and Ions
References
Further Reading
Appendix A: Symbols
Appendix B: Useful Trigonometric Identities
Appendix C: Vector Differential Operators
Appendix D: Vector Calculus Identities
Index