Introduction to Plasma Physics is the standard text for an introductory lecture course on plasma physics. The text’s six sections lead readers systematically and comprehensively through the fundamentals of modern plasma physics. Sections on single-particle motion, plasmas as fluids, and collisional processes in plasmas lay the groundwork for a thorough understanding of the subject. The authors take care to place the material in its historical context for a rich understanding of the ideas presented. They also emphasize the importance of medical imaging in radiotherapy, providing a logical link to more advanced works in the area. The text includes problems, tables, and illustrations as well as a thorough index and a complete list of references.
Introduction to Plasmas
Particle Drifts in Uniform Field.
Particle Drifts in Non-Uniform Magnetic Fields
Particle Drifts in Time-Dependent Fields
Mappings
Fluid Equations for a Plasma
Relation between Fluid Equations and Guiding-Center Drifts
Single-Fluid Magnetohydrodynamics
Magnetohydrodynamic Equilibrium
Fully and Partially Ionized Plasmas
Collisions in Fully Ionized Plasmas
Diffusion in Plasmas
The Fokker-Planck Equation for Coulomb Collisions
Collisions of Fast Ions in a Plasma
Basic Concepts of Small-Amplitude Waves in Anisotropic Dispersive Media
Waves in an Unmagnetized Plasma
High-Frequency Waves in a Magnetized Plasma
Low-Frequency Waves in a Magnetized Plasma
The Rayleigh-Taylor and Flute Instabilities
The Resistive Tearing Instability
Drift Waves and Instabilities
The Vlasov Equation
Kinetic Effects on Plasma Waves: Vlasov’s Treatment
Kinetic Effects on Plasma Waves: Landau’s Treatment
Velocity-Space Instabilities and Nonlinear Theory
The Drift-Kinetic Equation and Kinetic Drift Waves
Appendices
Biography
R. J. Goldston and P. H. Rutherford both of the Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University.
“This is one of the present standard textbooks on fundamentals of modern plasma physics. The book contains exercises to control the newly obtained knowledge. A list of books for further reading and an index of scientific keywords are given at the end of the work. Two disks with computer programs in Macintosh and MS Windows format on area-preserving maps and Hamiltonian chaos are added. The book is of interest for both graduate and advanced undergraduate students in physics, especially plasma physics and astrophysics and related engineering.”
—Claudia-Veronika Meister (Potsdam)
