Introduction to plasma physics. Incl. 2 disc (Q2719713)

This is the second corrected reprint of one of the present standard textbooks on fundamentals of modern plasma physics first published in 1995. The emphasis is on fully-ionized plasmas, and only some discussions are related to weakly-ionized gases which are used in plasma etching or occur in planetary ionospheres.NEWLINENEWLINEThe initial chapter of the book introduces plasmas in laboratories and nature, and the plasma classification. Then, 6 units follow.NEWLINENEWLINEUnit 1 deals with the one-particle motion in electromagnetic and gravitational fields and discusses invariants of particle motion. The modern nonlinear theory of chaos in particle orbits is introduced using the concept of Hamiltonian maps. Fluid equations for each species of plasma particles and their relations to guiding-center drifts are derived in unit 2. The single-fluid magnetohydrodynamics of fully-ionized plasmas is formulated.NEWLINENEWLINEIn unit 3, after the description of the most important atomic processes in plasmas of different degree of ionization, effects of Coulomb collisions are treated in some detail. Considering the influence of multiple small-angle Coulomb collisions on the distribution of velocities in plasmas, the Fokker-Planck equation is derived directly.NEWLINENEWLINEThe theory of linear plasma waves, in cold and warm systems, with and without magnetic fields, is introduced within the fluid approximation in unit 4.NEWLINENEWLINEIn unit 5, low-frequency wave instabilities in fluid plasmas are considered in detail. Three of the most important instabilities in non-uniform plasmas are analysed, the Rayleigh-Taylor, the resistive tearing and the drift-wave instabilities.NEWLINENEWLINE Unit 6 deals with the kinetic treatment of plasmas. First, the Vlasov equation is derived. On the basis of the Vlasov equation, the theory of waves and instabilities in uniform systems is reconsidered. Emphasis is on the Landau approach to the wave-particle interaction and on the quasi-linear plasma theory. Finally, the drift-kinetic approximation is introduced to treat electrostatic, low-frequency waves in non-uniform plasmas.NEWLINENEWLINEThe book contains exercises to control the newly obtained knowledge. A list of books for further reading and an index of scientific keywords are given at the end of the work. Two disks with computer programs in Macintosh and MS.Windows format on area-preserving maps and Hamiltonian chaos are added.NEWLINENEWLINEThe reader of the textbook has to be familiar with vector and tensor calculus, as well as with the complex analysis including contour integration. The book is of interest for both graduate and advanced undergraduate students in physics, especially plasma physics and astrophysics and related engineering.