Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion

Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion

The primary objective of these lecture notes is to present the basic theories
and analytical methods of plasma physics and to provide the recent status
of fusion research for graduate and advanced undergraduate students. I also
hope that this text will be a useful reference for scientists and engineers
working in the relevant fields.
Chapters 1–4 describe the fundamentals of plasma physics. The basic
concept of the plasma and its characteristics are explained in Chaps. 1 and
2. The orbits of ions and electrons are described in several magnetic field
configurations in Chap. 3, while Chap. 4 formulates the Boltzmann equation
for the velocity space distribution function, which is the basic equation of
plasma physics.
Chapters 5–9 describe plasmas as magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) fluids.
The MHD equation of motion (Chap. 5), equilibrium (Chap. 6) and plasma
transport (Chap. 7) are described by the fluid model. Chapter 8 discusses
problems of MHD instabilities, i.e., whether a small perturbation will grow
to disrupt the plasma or damp to a stable state. Chapter 9 describes resistive
instabilities of plasmas with finite electrical resistivity.
In Chaps. 10–13, plasmas are treated by kinetic theory. The medium in
which waves and perturbations propagate is generally inhomogeneous and
anisotropic. It may absorb or even amplify the waves and perturbations. The
cold plasma model described in Chap. 10 is applicable when the thermal ve-
locity of plasma particles is much smaller than the phase velocity of the wave.
Because of its simplicity, the dielectric tensor of cold plasma is easily derived
and the properties of various waves can be discussed in the case of cold plas-
mas. If the refractive index becomes large and the phase velocity of the wave
becomes comparable to the thermal velocity of the plasma particles, then the
particles and the wave interact with each other. Chapter 11 describes Landau
damping, which is the most characteristic collective phenomenon of plasmas,
and also cyclotron damping. Chapter 12 discusses wave heating (wave absorp-
tion) and velocity space instabilities (amplification of perturbations) in hot
plasmas, in which the thermal velocity of particles is comparable to the wave
phase velocity, using the dielectric tensor of hot plasmas. Chapter 13 dis-
cusses instabilities driven by energetic particles, i.e., the fishbone instability
and toroidal Alfv´en eigenmodes.

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