Название: Foundations of Plasma Physics for Physicists and Mathematicians
Автор: Geoffrey J. Pert
Издательство: Wiley
Год: 2021
Страниц: 467
Язык: английский
Формат: pdf (true)
Размер: 10.16 MB

A comprehensive textbook on the foundational principles of plasmas, including material on advanced topics and related disciplines such as optics, fluid dynamics, and astrophysics. Foundations of Plasma Physics for Physicists and Mathematicians covers the basic physics underlying plasmas and describes the methodology and techniques used in both plasma research and other disciplines such as optics and fluid mechanics. Designed to help readers develop physical understanding and mathematical competence in the subject, this rigorous textbook discusses the underlying theoretical foundations of plasma physics as well as a range of specific problems, focused on those principally associated with fusion.

Plasma often called ‘the fourth state of matter’ is the most abundant form of observable matter in the universe. Nonetheless plasma physics is a relatively new discipline, unknown before 1900. Ionisation studies originated in the experimental study of gas breakdown in strong electric fields by Paschen. The inception of low temperature plasma physics may be considered to have been the result of the discovery by Thomson of the negatively charged electron in gas discharges in 1897, although plasma physics as we know it today did not evolve until the mid-1920s. Positively charged ions, essentially gas molecules which had lost an electron, were found soon after. In the early years of the twentieth century, gas discharges and arcs were empirically investigated. The related topics of breakdown of gases and ionisation and recombination dominated this field known as ionised gases. This activity becoming progressively more realistic during the early years of the twentieth century as the mobile role of molecules and particles became better understood; but still only in media of low ionisation, where the number of charged particles is small compared to that of the background gas.

Reflective of the development of plasma physics, the text first introduces readers to the collective and collisional behaviors of plasma, the single particle model, wave propagation, the kinetic effects of gases and plasma, and other foundational concepts and principles. Subsequent chapters cover topics including the hydrodynamic limit of plasma, ideal magneto-hydrodynamics, waves in MHD plasmas, magnetically confined plasma, and waves in magnetized hot and cold plasma. Written by an acknowledged expert with more than five decades’ active research experience in the field, this authoritative text:

• Identifies and emphasizes the similarities and differences between plasmas and fluids
  
• Describes the different types of interparticle forces that influence the collective behavior of plasma
  
• Demonstrates and stresses the importance of coherent and collective effects in plasma
  
• Contains an introduction to interactions between laser beams and plasma
  
• Includes supplementary sections on the basic models of low temperature plasma and the theory of complex variables and Laplace transforms

Foundations of Plasma Physics for Physicists and Mathematicians is the ideal textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in plasma physics, and a valuable compendium for physicists working in plasma physics and fluid mechanics.