Microscopic Dynamics of Plasmas and Chaos discusses the resonant wave-particle interaction in plasmas, provides the tools for chaotic Hamiltonian dynamics, and describes a turbulent macroscopic system through the chaotic classical mechanics of the corresponding N-body problem. The book begins with the fundamentals of N-body dynamics, followed by a statistical description of wave-particle interactions. It then builds up knowledge by examining advanced material that includes Hamiltonian chaos, chaotic diffusion, self-consistent dynamics in the diffusive regime, as well as temporal evolution of a single-wave particle system. The authors describe the subject matter in a systematic and lucid way, supported by detailed simulations.
From N-body dynamics to wave-particle interaction
Dynamics of the small amplitude wave-particle system
Statistical description of the small amplitude wave-particle dynamics
Hamiltonian chaos
Diffusion: case of the nonself-consistent dynamics
Self-consistent dynamics in the diffusive regime
Time evolution of the single wave-particle system
Gibbsian equilibrium of the single wave-particle system
Conclusion
Appendices
References
Biography
Dominique Escande, Yves Elskens
"A well-balanced book offering a solid and detailed insight into physical processes and mathematical tools essential to the kinetic theory of the particle and wave dynamics of electrostatic plasmas. It can serve well as a useful and up-to-date reference book both to those active in pure scientific research as well as to those involved in pedagogical work including graduate students. Numerous problems and exercises formulated throughout each of the main nine chapters, additional clarifications given in seven appendices, and a broad list of relevant references at the end of the book help readers to obtain a better and more detailed insight into plasma kinetics."
-Zentralblatt MATH
"Some of the key intellectual foundations of plasma physics are in danger of becoming a lost art. Fortunately, however, this threat recedes with the publication of this valuable book. It renders accessible those aspects of theoretical plasma physics that are best approached from the perspective of classical mechanics, in both its early nineteenth-century and late twentieth-century manifestations. … Certainly it is a book that should be read backwards and sideways, as well as forwards … Altogether, this book provides a wealth of theoretical information that is not easily accessible from any other source. It is a book with character, written from a definite viewpoint, but it also facilitates the development of the readers' own perspective by offering a clear path to the original research literature."
-R.O. Dendy, Journal of Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
