Introduction. Charged Particle Motion. Plasma Fluid Theory. Waves in Cold Plasmas. Magnetohydrodynamic Fluids. Waves in Warm Plasmas.
Richard Fitzpatrick is a Professor of Physics at the University of Texas at Austin, where he has been a faculty member since 1994. He is a member of the Royal Astronomical Society, a fellow of the American Physical Society, and the author of Maxwell’s Equations and the Principles of Electromagnetism (2008), An Introduction to Celestial Mechanics (2012), and Oscillations and Waves: An Introduction (2013). He earned a Master’s degree in physics from the University of Cambridge and a DPhil in astronomy from the University of Sussex.
"[This] book is a textbook treating plasma physics in its breadth,
on an introductory level, however focusing on the by far most
common form of plasma, which is the ‘fully ionised,
non-relativistic, non-degenerate, quasi-neutral and weakly coupled
plasma’…The present book is intended to accompany a graduate-level
course on plasma physics, giving appropriate end-of-chapter
problems (with a solutions manual available for teachers)… The text
is nicely structured into short sections, treating the topic with
full mathematical rigour and with references to scientific
publications. It assumes an understanding of classical mechanics,
electrodynamics, waves and oscillations, integral and differential
calculus, vector fields, complex analysis, and Fourier and Laplace
transforms.
The overall text is rather concise (290 pages with 36
black-and-white illustrations) and the topics are well chosen for
such a brief introduction...the book deserves a recommendation as a
companion for an introductory course in the subject."
—Manuel Vogel, GSI Darmstadt, in Contemporary Physics (Vol. 57, No.
4)"In recent years, graduate and advanced undergraduate students
with a suitable background in classical mechanics and
electromagnetic theory have had the luxury of choosing between
several very good textbooks that present the core principles of
plasma physics. In that crowded field, Richard Fitzpatrick’s Plasma
Physics: An Introduction distinguishes itself by its excellence.
For those of us who have admired Fitzpatrick for his seminal
contributions to the subject of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)
instabilities in fusion plasmas, his book is as much a source of
pleasure as his papers are for their clarity and rigor. … the book
has some unique features that make it especially attractive to both
students and researchers. Examples include systematic and readable
accounts of the Braginskii equations and the Chapman–Enskog method
for weakly collisional plasmas. Nice physical explanations for the
transport effects that emerge from the baroque complexity of
orderings and expansions will help students see the forest for the
trees. … an excellent and compact textbook—complete with problem
sets and references—that has earned a permanent place on my
bookshelf. Thanks to the several useful and well-presented topics,
I would expect the book to endure as a standard text in colleges
and universities all over the world."
—Physics Today, July 2015"Certainly we are not short of
introductory textbooks for plasma physics, but I endorse this new
one since it stands out for a couple of good reasons. First, this
book provides broad background materials without targeting one
particular area of applications of plasma physics. This is not the
case for most of the available plasma physics books on the market.
… writing such a book is certainly not an easy task as most authors
are brought up to their status by practicing one particular
application.
Second, the book goes into fine details of the step-by-step
derivations, which is very valuable for students wanting to work
through the process. … Finally, it contains a rich set of
real-world examples for applications of introductory plasma
physics. A good example of such is Van Allen radiation belts
mentioned in Chapter 2: Charged Particle Motion. It is just amazing
to see how much physics insights we can gain about these
complicated space plasma physics phenomena through simple charged
particle motions, which are typically described abstractly in other
textbooks."
—Hantao Ji, Professor of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton
University"One of the most confusing features of plasma physics is
the wealth of different levels of description that can be used in
different circumstances. … This book provides an excellent
treatment of these different starting points for the description of
plasma phenomena, explaining in detail how they are related and the
regimes in which each is applicable. A student who works through
the book and problems in each chapter will have an excellent
grounding for further work in the subject. More experienced
researchers will find that it provides interesting insights into
the basics of the subject and is a valuable source of
reference."
—Alan Cairns, University of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland"This
introduction to plasma physics by Richard Fitzpatrick originates
from many years of lecturing and it shows—in the most positive way!
The selection of topics is appealing to anyone entering into high
temperature plasma physics, be it astrophysics or fusion. The
physics explanations are intuitive and give great insight and yet
the mathematical treatment is rigorous where necessary. Definitely
recommended for plasma physics students, but also the experienced
researcher will find interesting aspects."
—Hartmut Zohm, Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, Garching,
Germany
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