Plasma Physics and Fusion Plasma Electrodynamics

Description

Plasma is a ubiquitous state of matter at high temperatures. The electrodynamics of plasmas encompasses many applications, from understanding plasmas in space and the stars, to their use in processing semiconductors. This textbook at the early graduate level covers basic plasma physics and illustrates its use in many current applications.

• Introductory, graduate level textbook with over 600 illustrations, 350 exercises, and 7 appendices on applied mathematics
• Comprehensive treatment of waves in plasmas, and their use in heating and current generation in magnetic confinement fusion plasmas
• Unique and detailed chapter on absolute and convective instability analysis which is of general applicability in physics and engineering
• Electrodynamics of coupling of modes, linear and nonlinear; parametric instabilities in inertial confinement fusion plasmas
• Detailed treatment of kinetic instabilities in plasmas in a magnetic field - including relativistic instabilities
• Weak turbulence and nonlinear dynamics of solitons and chaos in plasmas
• Transport, in weakly and fully ionized plasmas: classical, and elements of neoclassical and turbulent transport

About the Author(s)

Abraham Bers, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

A longtime teacher of MIT's graduate course of Introductory Plasma Physics I, Professor Bers inspired generations of students to study plasma physics. As an educator, he was known for his meticulous lecture preparation. He was also for many years the plasma wave interaction group leader at MIT, and directed numerous theses of doctoral students who later became leaders in the field. His celebrated courses went on to become the basis for this two-volume text book.

Table of Contents

1:Ionized gases and plasmas-Historical overview, basic concepts, and applications
2:Collective dynamics in plasmas - I. Hydrodynamics and transport
3:Collective dynamics in plasmas-II. Some basic fluid modes
4:Collective dynamics in plasmas-III. Colllisionless kinetic effects
5:Collisions and collisional transport-I. Particle collisions
6:Collisions and collisional transport-II. Fully-ionized plasmas - unmagnetized
7:Collisions and collisional transport-III. Weakly-ionized plasmas — unmagnetized
8:Charged particle motions in a magnetic field-Elements of magnetic confinement and transport
9:Magnetohydrodynamics
10:Drift-free cold plasma — unmagnetized-Linear and nonlinear electrodynamics
11:Drift-free cold plasma — magnetized-I. Linearized electrodynamics
12:Drift-free cold plasma — magnetized-II. Linear modes; principal waves
13:Drift-free cold plasma — magnetized-III. Waves in arbitrary directions; nonlinear coupling
14:Dynamics with thermal pressures-I. Unmagnetized plasma
15:Dynamics with thermal pressures-II. Magnetized plasma
16:E-beam waves, instabilities and devices
17:Streaming instabilities in cold plasmas
18:Space-time evolution of instabilities-Absolute and convective
19:Electrodynamics of linear modes-Conservation relations and perturbation theory
20:Linear coupling of modes
21:Nonlinear coupling of modes
22:Inhomogeneous and bounded plasmas and beams
23:Micro, kinetic and fluid descriptions-Hierarchy of plasma descriptions
24:Vlasov-Landau-van Kampen/Case kinetic descriptions-in one-d ES and in 3-D — unmagnetized plasma
25:Kinetic theory of instabilities-in one-d and unmagnetized plasmas
26:Kinetic waves and instabilities in magnetized plasmas
27:Kinetic descriptions in inhomogeneous plasmas-Drift waves and instabilities
28:Quasilinear theory and weak turbulence
29:Nonlinear dynamics and chaos in plasmas
30:Kinetic theory of collisions and transport-I. Fully ionized plasmas
31:Kinetic theory of collisions and transport-II.Weakly-ionized plasmas
32:Radiation and fluctuations in plasmas
33:Mathematical Appendices

Reviews

"Professor Bers has produced an astonishingly comprehensive and rigorous graduate level plasma physics text book. It is an excellent resource for any serious student of the subject. It is also a good general reference and I certainly expect to dip into it regularly. Teachers will find it especially helpful with copious end of chapter problems and a well thought out pedagogy. " - Steven Cowley, Director, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy and CEO, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority