Plasma Physics
An Introduction

Encompasses the Lectured Works of a Renowned Expert in the Field. Plasma Physics: An Introduction is based on a series of university course lectures by a leading name in the field, and thoroughly covers the physics of the fourth state of matter. This book looks at non-relativistic, fully ionized, nondegenerate, quasi-neutral, and weakly coupled plasma. Intended for the student market, the text provides a concise and cohesive introduction to plasma physics theory, and offers a solid foundation for students wishing to take higher level courses in plasma physics. This work contains over 80 exercises—carefully selected for their pedagogical value—with fully worked out solutions available in a separate solutions manual for professors. The author provides an in-depth discussion of the various fluid theories typically used in plasma physics. The material presents a number of applications, and works through specific topics including basic plasma parameters, the theory of charged particle motion in inhomogeneous electromagnetic fields, plasma fluid theory, electromagnetic waves in cold plasmas, electromagnetic wave propagation through inhomogeneous plasmas, magnetohydrodynamical fluid theory, and kinetic theory.

Discusses fluid theory illustrated by the investigation of Langmuir sheaths. Explores charged particle motion illustrated by the investigation of charged particle trapping in the earth’s magnetosphere. Examines the WKB theory illustrated by the investigation of radio wave propagation in the earth’s ionosphere. Studies the MHD theory illustrated by the investigation of solar wind, dynamo theory, magnetic reconnection, and MHD shocks. Plasma Physics: An Introduction addresses applied areas and advanced topics in the study of plasma physics, and specifically demonstrates the behavior of ionized gas.

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

Introduction

Motion in Uniform Fields

Method of Averaging

Guiding Center Motion

Magnetic Drifts

Invariance of Magnetic Moment

Poincar´e Invariants

Adiabatic Invariants

Magnetic Mirrors

Van Allen Radiation Belts

Equatorial Ring Current

Second Adiabatic Invariant

Third Adiabatic Invariant

Motion in Oscillating Fields

Exercises

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

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

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

Introduction

WKB Solutions

Cutoffs

Resonances

Resonant Layers

Collisional Damping

Pulse Propagation

Ray Tracing

Ionospheric Radio Wave Propagation

Exercises

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

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.