Plasma: The Fourth State of Matter

Front Matter....Pages i-viii
Introduction....Pages 1-8
Production of a Plasma....Pages 8-11
Plasma Diagnostics....Pages 11-18
Quasi Neutrality and Charge Separation....Pages 18-22
Polarization of a Plasma....Pages 22-24
Gas Discharges....Pages 24-25
Plasma Thermodynamics....Pages 25-34
Elementary Processes....Pages 35-36
Plasmas and Radiation....Pages 36-40
Equilibrium and the Stationary Ionization States....Pages 40-44
Plasmas as Conducting Fluids....Pages 44-50
Field Diffusion and Plasma Diffusion....Pages 50-50
Applications of the Conducting-Fluid Model....Pages 51-53
Toroidal Plasma Traps....Pages 53-55
Electromagnetic Pumping and Plasma Acceleration....Pages 55-57
Magnetohydrodynamic Flow....Pages 57-59
The Two-Fluid Model....Pages 59-64
Plasma Conductivity in a Magnetic Field....Pages 64-66
Plasma as an Ensemble of Independent Particles....Pages 66-68
Drift Motion....Pages 68-71
Electric Drift....Pages 71-73
Conservation of Magnetic Moment....Pages 74-75
The Adiabatic Traps....Pages 75-78
Drift in an Inhomogeneous Field....Pages 79-83
Polarization Drift....Pages 83-85
Rotating Plasmas....Pages 85-86
The Magnetization Current....Pages 86-89
The Quasi-hydrodynamic Approximation....Pages 89-91
Hydromagnetic Plasma Instabilities....Pages 91-95
Pinch Instability....Pages 95-96
Stabilization by Frozen-in Magnetic Fields....Pages 96-98
Interchange or Flute Instabilities....Pages 98-100
Diffusion of Opposed Fields....Pages 100-104
Oscillations and Waves in Plasmas....Pages 104-108
Electrostatic Plasma Oscillations....Pages 108-110
Electrostatic Oscillations with Ions....Pages 110-113
Plasma Oscillations in a Magnetic Field....Pages 113-116
Dispersion near the Cyclotron Frequency....Pages 116-119
Oblique Waves and General Classification of Oscillations....Pages 119-120
Propagation of Radio Waves through a Plasma....Pages 120-126
Ambipolar Diffusion....Pages 152-154
A Recent Plasma Experiment....Pages 154-156
Plasma Resonators and Waveguides....Pages 126-129
Excitation and Damping of Oscillations....Pages 130-134
Shock Waves in Plasmas....Pages 134-135
Random Processes....Pages 135-137
The Drunkard’s Walk....Pages 138-139
The Mean Free Path and the Collision Cross Section....Pages 139-140
Collisions with Neutral Particles....Pages 141-144
Coulomb Collisions....Pages 144-148
The Establishment of Thermal Equilibrium....Pages 148-150
Transport Processes in a Magnetic Field....Pages 150-152
Back Matter....Pages 157-159