Introduction
What is Plasma?
Brief History of Plasma Physics
Fundamental Parameters
Plasma Frequency
Debye Shielding
Plasma Parameter
Collisions
Magnetized Plasmas
Plasma Beta
DeBroglie Wavelength
Exercises
Charged Particle Motion
Introduction
Motion in Uniform Fields
Method of Averaging
Guiding Center Motion
Magnetic Drifts
Invariance of Magnetic Moment
Poincare Invariants
Adiabatic Invariants
Magnetic Mirrors
Van Allen Radiation Belts
Equatorial Ring Current
Second Adiabatic Invariant
Third Adiabatic Invariant
Motion in Oscillating Fields
Exercises
Collisions
Introduction
Collision Operator
Two-Body Elastic Collisions
Boltzmann Collision Operator
Collisional Conservation Laws
Boltzmann H-Theorem
Two-Body Coulomb Collisions
Rutherford Scattering Cross-Section
Landau Collision Operator
Coulomb Logarithm
Rosenbluth Potentials
Collision Times
Exercises
Plasma Fluid Theory
Introduction
Moments of Distribution Function
Moments of Collision Operator
Moments of Kinetic Equation
Fluid Equations
Entropy Production
Fluid Closure
Chapman-Enskog Closure
Normalization of Neutral Gas Equations
Braginskii Equations
Normalization of Braginskii Equations
Cold-Plasma Equations
MHD Equations
Drift Equations
Closure in Collisionless Magnetized Plasmas
Langmuir Sheaths
Exercises
Waves in Cold Plasmas
Introduction
Plane Waves in homogeneous Plasmas
Cold-Plasma Dielectric Permittivity
Cold-Plasma Dispersion Relation
Wave Polarization
Cutoff and Resonance
Waves in Unmagnetized Plasmas
Low-Frequency Wave Propagation
Parallel Wave Propagation
Perpendicular Wave Propagation
Exercises
Wave Propagation Through Inhomogeneous Plasmas
Introduction
WKB Solutions
Cutoffs
Resonances
Resonant Layers
Collisional Damping
Pulse Propagation
Ray Tracing
Ionospheric Radio Wave Propagation
Exercises
Magnetohydrodynamic Fluids
Introduction
Magnetic Pressure
Flux Freezing
MHD Waves
Solar Wind
Parker Model of Solar Wind
Interplanetary Magnetic Field
Mass and Angular Momentum Loss
MHD Dynamo Theory
Homopolar Disk Dynamo
Slow and Fast Dynamos
Cowling Anti-Dynamo Theorem
Ponomarenko Dynamo
Magnetic Reconnection
Linear Tearing Mode Theory
Nonlinear Tearing Mode Theory
Fast Magnetic Reconnection
MHD Shocks
Parallel MHD Shocks
Perpendicular MHD Shocks
Oblique MHD Shocks
Exercises
Waves in Warm Plasmas
Introduction
Landau Damping
Physics of Landau Damping
Plasma Dispersion Function
Ion Acoustic Waves
Waves in Magnetized Plasmas
Parallel Wave Propagation
Perpendicular Wave Propagation
Electrostatic Waves
Velocity-Space Instabilities
Counter-Propagating Beam Instability
Current-Driven Ion Acoustic Instability
Harris Instability
Exercises
Bibliography
Index
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 fur
Plasmaphysik, Garching, Germany
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