PH3407 - Introduction to Plasma Physics

An undergraduate level course, offered in semester 2 every year

Overview

Plasma, also known as the “fourth state of matter”, is common in the universe: more than 90% of the baryonic matter in the universe is believed to be in the plasma state. The application space is also huge: solar physics, astrophysics, nuclear fusion reactor, industrial plasma processing (including semiconductor etching), space propulsion, etc. The area of study has a general appeal to many students, as they may decide to pursue a further study or take an internship in a related area. The proposed course would equip the students with the basic concepts and methodologies of plasma physics for various applications.

Course Contents

  1. What is a plasma?
    • Plasma frequency, Debye length, and quasi-neutrality
    • Natural plasmas, laboratory plasmas, and their parameters
  2. Fluid description of plasmas
    • Derivation of the fluid equations
    • Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD)
  3. Plasma waves in homogenous media
    • Linearisation of the fluid equations
    • Waves in unmagnetized plasmas
    • Waves in magnetized plasmas
    • Alfvén waves
  4. Plasma equilibrium
    • MHD equilibrium
    • Equilibrium in simple geometries, astrophysics objects, and fusion devices
  5. Stability
    • Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities
    • Tearing instabilities, magnetic reconnections, solar flare
    • Other important instabilities in natural and lab plasmas
  6. Kinetic theory
    • Plasma as a distribution function
    • The Vlasov equation, fluid equation derivation revisit
    • Landau damping
  7. Plasmas in a strong magnetic field
    • Guiding centre drift in uniform E and B fields
    • Guiding centre drift in non-uniform and time-varying fields
    • Adiabatic invariants
    • Drift ordering
  8. Collisions and transport
    • Coulomb collisions, neutral collisions
    • Plasma resistivity
    • Diffusion and transport
  9. Applications
    • Solar and astrophysical plasmas, nuclear fusion reactor, industrial plasmas, etc

Reading and References

  • Chen, F. F. (2015). Introduction to Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion.
  • Choudhuri, A. R. (1998). The physics of fluids and plasmas: an introduction for astrophysicists.
  • Goldston, R. J. and Rutherford, P. H. (1995). Introduction to plasma physics.

Figure: By ESO/VPHAS+ team - http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1403a/, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30759954

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