Fragmented Energy Release in Sun and Stars, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1994
The Interface between MHD and Plasma Physics

Magnetic energy release plays an important role in a wide variety of cosmic objects such as the Sun, stellar coronae, stellar and galactic accretion disks and pulsars. The observed radio, X-ray and gamma-ray emission often directly results from magnetic `flares', implying that these processes are spatially fragmented and of an impulsive nature. A true understanding of these processes requires a combined magnetohydrodynamical and plasma physical approach. Fragmented EnergyRelease in Sun and Stars: the Interface between MHD and Plasma Physics provides a comprehensive, interdisciplinary summary of magnetic energy release in the Sun and stars, in accretion disks, in pulsar magnetospheres and in laboratory plasmas. These proceedings include papers on both theoretical and observational aspects.
Fragmented Energy Release in Sun and Stars: the Interface between MHDand Plasma Physics is for researchers in the fields of solar physics, stellar astrophysics and (laboratory) plasma physics and is a useful resource book for graduate level astrophysics courses.

1 Energy Release Processes.- Coronal Heating by Dissipation of Magnetic Structure.- Reconnective Release of Magnetic Energy in Astrophysical Plasmas.- Energy Release in Double Layers.- Theory of Fragmented Energy Release in the Sun.- Alfvén Wave Heating.- Low Frequency Turbulence and Energy Dissipation in the Solar Wind.- Dynamic Behavior and Topology of 3D Magnetic Fields.- Detailed Magnetic Structure and Stochastic Threshold.- Current Dissipation within the Chromosphere-Corona Transition.- Spatial Fragmentation of Solar Flare Plasma and Beams.- Nanoflares and Current Sheet Dissipation.- 3D Nonlinear Wave Heating of Coronal Loops.- Nonlinear Dust Alfvén Modes.- The Role of Vorticity in 3D Magnetic Field Annihilation.- Particle Orbits near a Neutral Point.- Electron Beam Propagation in the Solar Corona.- MHD Waves in Coronal Flux Tubes.- Heating of the Solar Corona by Alfvén Wave Envelopes.- Observational Support of Reconnection in Solar Flares.- Studies of Anomalous Potential Drops Due to Ion Density Inhomogeneities.- 2 Fragmented Solar Emission.- Observations of Fragmented Energy Release.- Imaging Diagnostics of Solar Non-Thermal Particles.- Cyclotron Masers and Solar Spike Bursts.- Chaos Theory and Radio Emission.- On Deterministic Chaos, Stationarity Periodicity and Intermittency in Coronal Bursts and Flares.- Periodic or Random Acceleration in Solar Flares?.- Radio Emission from Quasi-parallel Shock Waves in the Corona.- Microwave Bursts of November 17, 1991: Evidence of Fragmented Particle Injection into a Coronal Loop.- Evidence for a Common Source of Fragmented Decimeter Emission and Meter Wave Type II Bursts in Some Solar Type IV Bursts.- Thermal and Nonthermal Flare Emission Observed with the Nobeyama Radio Heliograph.- Thermal Cyclotron Radiation from a Hot Coronal Loop with Helical Magnetic Field.- Fine Scale Temporal Structures in Solar Hard X-ray Bursts Observed by PHEBUS.- Modelling Particle Transport with Stochastic Simulations.- Transition Radio Emission of Mildly Relativistic Particles.- Analysis of Solar Spike Events by Means of Symbolic Dynamics Methods.- Multiple Frequency Spike Emission During Solar Flares.- Radio Evidence of Long Lasting Release of Nonthermal Energy in the Solar Corona.- SSRT: First Results of Millisecond Spike Observations.- Discrete Energy Release in Microwave Emission in the Preflare Stage.- Microwave Spectrum Analysis as Solar Energy Release Diagnostics.- 3 Stars.- Stellar Flares.- Radiation-Driven Diskons: an Overview.- First Millimetric Detections of AE Aquarii.- Variability and Origin of Permanent Radio Emission in RS CVn and Algol Type Binaries.- 4 Stellar and Galactic Accretion Disks.- Energy Release in Stellar Magnetospheres.- Magnetic Energy Release near Accreting Black Holes.- Dissipation of Magnetic Fields in Active Galactic Nuclei.- Distribution and Flow of Magnetic Energy in an Accretion Disk.- Slender Fluxtubes in Accretion Disks.- A Magnetic Explanation for the Rapid Burster.- 5 Pulsars.- Electric Gaps in Pulsar Magnetospheres.- Radiative Properties of Pulsar Magnetospheres.- Pulsar Radio Emission.- Pair Creation in Double Layers.- Linear Acceleration Emission in a Strong Electric Field.- Closing Lecture.- Closing Address.- Author index.