THE PHYSICS OF PLASMAS
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION SOURCES WHAT IS PLASMA? BRIEF HISTORY OF PLASMA PHYSICS BASIC PARAMETERS PLASMA FREQUENCY DEBYE SHIELDING PLASMA PARAMETER COLLISIONS MAGNETIZED PLASMAS 1 10 PLASMA BETA CHARGED PARTICLE MOTION MOTION IN UNIFORM FIELDS METHOD OF AVERAGING GUIDING CENTRE MOTION MAGNETIC DRIFTS INVARIANCE OF MAGNETIC MOMENT POINCAR´E INVARIANTS ADIABATIC INVARIANTS MAGNETIC MIRRORS 2 10 VAN ALLEN RADIATION BELTS 2 11 RING CURRENT 2 12 SECOND ADIABATIC INVARIANT 2 13 THIRD ADIABATIC INVARIANT 2 14 MOTION IN OSCILLATING FIELDS PLASMA FLUID THEORY MOMENTS OF THE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION MOMENTS OF THE COLLISION OPERATOR MOMENTS OF THE KINETIC EQUATION FLUID EQUATIONS ENTROPY PRODUCTION FLUID CLOSURE BRAGINSKII EQUATIONS NORMALIZATION OF THE BRAGINSKII EQUATIONS 3 10 COLD-PLASMA EQUATIONS 3 11 MHD EQUATIONS 3 12 DRIFT EQUATIONS 3 13 CLOSURE IN COLLISIONLESS MAGNETIZED PLASMAS 3 14 LANGMUIR SHEATHS WAVES IN COLD PLASMAS PLANE WAVES IN A HOMOGENEOUS PLASMA COLD-PLASMA DIELECTRIC PERMITTIVITY COLD-PLASMA DISPERSION RELATION POLARIZATION CUTOFF AND RESONANCE WAVES IN AN UNMAGNETIZED PLASMA LOW-FREQUENCY WAVE PROPAGATION PARALLEL WAVE PROPAGATION 4 10 PERPENDICULAR WAVE PROPAGATION 4 11 WAVE PROPAGATION THROUGH INHOMOGENEOUS PLASMAS 4 12 CUTOFFS 4 13 RESONANCES 4 14 RESONANT LAYERS 4 15 COLLISIONAL DAMPING 4 16 PULSE PROPAGATION 4 17 RAY TRACING 4 18 RADIO WAVE PROPAGATION THROUGH THE IONOSPHERE MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC FLUIDS MAGNETIC PRESSURE FLUX FREEZING MHD WAVES THE SOLAR WIND PARKER MODEL OF SOLAR WIND INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELD MASS AND ANGULAR MOMENTUM LOSS MHD DYNAMO THEORY 5 10 HOMOPOLAR GENERATORS 5 11 SLOW AND FAST DYNAMOS 5 12 COWLING ANTI-DYNAMO THEOREM 5 13 PONOMARENKO DYNAMOS 5 14 MAGNETIC RECONNECTION 5 15 LINEAR TEARING MODE THEORY 5 16 NONLINEAR TEARING MODE THEORY 5 17 FAST MAGNETIC RECONNECTION 5 18 MHD SHOCKS 5 19 PARALLEL SHOCKS 5 20 PERPENDICULAR SHOCKS 5 21 OBLIQUE SHOCKS WAVES IN WARM PLASMAS LANDAU DAMPING PHYSICS OF LANDAU DAMPING PLASMA DISPERSION FUNCTION ION SOUND WAVES WAVES IN MAGNETIZED PLASMAS PERPENDICULAR WAVE PROPAGATION INTRODUCTION SOURCES THE MAJOR SOURCES FOR THIS COURSE ARE: THE THEORY OF PLASMA WAVES: T H STIX, 1ST ED (MCGRAW-HILL, NEW YORK NY, 1962) PLASMA PHYSICS: R A CAIRNS (BLACKIE, GLASGOW UK, 1985) THE FRAMEWORK OF PLASMA PHYSICS: R D HAZELTINE, AND F L WAELBROECK (WESTVIEW, BOULDER CO, 2004) OTHER SOURCES INCLUDE: THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF NON-UNIFORM GASES: S CHAPMAN, AND T G COWLING (CAM- BRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE UK, 1953) PHYSICS OF FULLY IONIZED GASES: L SPITZER, JR , 1ST ED (INTERSCIENCE, NEW YORK NY, 1956) RADIO WAVES IN THE IONOSPHERE: K G BUDDEN (CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAM- BRIDGE UK, 1961) THE ADIABATIC MOTION OF CHARGED PARTICLES: T G NORTHROP (INTERSCIENCE, NEW YORK NY, 1963) CORONAL EXPANSION AND THE SOLAR WIND: A J HUNDHAUSEN (SPRINGER-VERLAG, BERLIN, 1972) SOLAR SYSTEM MAGNETIC FIELDS: E R PRIEST, ED (D REIDEL PUBLISHING CO , DORDRECHT, NETHERLANDS, 1985) LECTURES ON SOLAR AND PLANETARY DYNAMOS: M R E PROCTOR, AND A D GILBERT, EDS (CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE UK, 1994) INTRODUCTION TO PLASMA PHYSICS: R J GOLDSTON, AND P H RUTHERFORD (INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS PUBLISHING, BRISTOL UK, 1995) WHAT IS PLASMA? THE ELECTROMAGNETIC FORCE IS GENERALLY OBSERVED TO CREATE STRUCTURE: E G , STABLE ATOMS AND MOLECULES, CRYSTALLINE SOLIDS IN FACT, THE MOST WIDELY STUDIED CONSE- QUENCES OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC FORCE FORM THE SUBJECT MATTER OF CHEMISTRY AND SOLID-STATE PHYSICS, WHICH ARE BOTH DISCIPLINES DEVELOPED TO UNDERSTAND ESSEN- TIALLY STATIC STRUCTURES STRUCTURED SYSTEMS HAVE BINDING ENERGIES LARGER THAN THE AMBIENT THERMAL EN- ERGY PLACED IN A SUF?CIENTLY HOT ENVIRONMENT, THEY DECOMPOSE: E G , CRYSTALS MELT, MOLECULES DISASSOCIATE AT TEMPERATURES NEAR OR EXCEEDING ATOMIC IONIZA- TION ENERGIES, ATOMS SIMILARLY DECOMPOSE INTO NEGATIVELY CHARGED ELECTRONS AND POSITIVELY CHARGED IONS THESE CHARGED PARTICLES ARE BY NO MEANS FREE: IN FACT, THEY ARE STRONGLY AFFECTED BY EACH OTHERS’ ELECTROMAGNETIC ?ELDS NEVERTHELESS, BECAUSE THE CHARGES ARE NO LONGER BOUND, THEIR ASSEMBLAGE BECOMES CAPABLE OF COLLECTIVE MOTIONS OF GREAT VIGOR AND COMPLEXITY SUCH AN ASSEMBLAGE IS TERMED A PLASMA OF COURSE, BOUND SYSTEMS CAN DISPLAY EXTREME COMPLEXITY OF STRUCTURE: E G , A PROTEIN MOLECULE COMPLEXITY IN A PLASMA IS SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT, BEING EX- PRESSED TEMPORALLY AS MUCH AS SPATIALLY IT IS PREDOMINATELY CHARACTERIZED BY THE EXCITATION OF AN ENORMOUS VARIETY OF COLLECTIVE DYNAMICAL MODES SINCE THERMAL DECOMPOSITION BREAKS INTERATOMIC BONDS BEFORE IONIZING, MOST TERRESTRIAL PLASMAS BEGIN AS GASES IN FACT, A PLASMA IS SOMETIMES DE?NED AS A GAS THAT IS SUF?CIENTLY IONIZED TO EXHIBIT PLASMA-LIKE BEHAVIOUR NOTE THAT PLASMA- LIKE BEHAVIOUR ENSUES AFTER A REMARKABLY SMALL FRACTION OF THE GAS HAS UNDERGONE IONIZATION THUS, FRACTIONALLY IONIZED GASES EXHIBIT MOST OF THE EXOTIC PHENOMENA CHARACTERISTIC OF FULLY IONIZED GASES PLASMAS RESULTING FROM IONIZATION OF NEUTRAL GASES GENERALLY CONTAIN EQUAL NUMBERS OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE CHARGE CARRIERS IN THIS SITUATION, THE OPPO BRIEF HISTORY OF PLASMA PHYSICS WHEN BLOOD IS CLEARED OF ITS VARIOUS CORPUSCLES THERE REMAINS A TRANSPARENT LIQUID, WHICH WAS NAMED PLASMA (AFTER THE GREEK WORD ????µ?, WHICH MEANS “MOLD- ABLE SUBSTANCE” OR “JELLY”) BY THE GREAT CZECH MEDICAL SCIENTIST, JOHANNES PURKINJE (1787-1869) THE NOBEL PRIZE WINNING AMERICAN CHEMIST IRVING LANGMUIR ?RST USED THIS TERM TO DESCRIBE AN IONIZED GAS IN 1927—LANGMUIR WAS REMINDED OF THE WAY BLOOD PLASMA CARRIES RED AND WHITE CORPUSCLES BY THE WAY AN ELECTRI