Fundamentals of Plasma Physics [Paperback]

An advanced textbook covering essential and advanced topics in plasma physics relevant to many disciplines.This rigorous explanation of plasmas is relevant to diverse plasma applications such as controlled fusion, astrophysical plasmas, solar physics, magnetospheric plasmas, and plasma thrusters. More thorough than previous texts, it exploits new powerful mathematical techniques to develop deeper insights into plasma behavior. After developing the basic plasma equations from first principles, the author explores a host of essential and advanced topics. Written for beginning graduate students and advanced undergraduates, this text emphasizes the fundamentals that apply across many different contexts, whether in physics, astronomy, space physics, electrical engineering, or aeronautics.This rigorous explanation of plasmas is relevant to diverse plasma applications such as controlled fusion, astrophysical plasmas, solar physics, magnetospheric plasmas, and plasma thrusters. More thorough than previous texts, it exploits new powerful mathematical techniques to develop deeper insights into plasma behavior. After developing the basic plasma equations from first principles, the author explores a host of essential and advanced topics. Written for beginning graduate students and advanced undergraduates, this text emphasizes the fundamentals that apply across many different contexts, whether in physics, astronomy, space physics, electrical engineering, or aeronautics.This rigorous explanation of plasmas is relevant to diverse plasma applications such as controlled fusion, astrophysical plasmas, solar physics, magnetospheric plasmas, and plasma thrusters. More thorough than previous texts, it exploits new powerful mathematical techniques to develop deeper insights into plasma behavior. After developing the basic plasma equations from first principles, the book explores single particle motion with particular attention to adiabatic invariance. The author then examines types of pllc”