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Pedagogical in style, this book provides insights into plasma
behavior valid over twenty orders of magnitude in both time and
space. The book assumes that the reader has a basic knowledge of
magnetohydrodynamics and explains topics using detailed theoretical
analysis supported by discussion of relevant experiments. This
comprehensive approach gives the reader an understanding of the
essential theoretical ideas and their application to real
situations.The book starts by explaining the topological concept of
magnetic helicity and then develops a helicity-based model that
predicts the ultimate state towards which magnetically-dominated
plasmas evolve. The model predicts that no matter how messy or
complicated the dynamics, a great range of plasma configurations
always self-organize to a unique, simple final state. This
self-organization, called relaxation, is a fundamental concept that
unifies understanding of spheromaks, solar corona loops,
interplanetary magnetic clouds, and astrophysical jets.After
establishing why relaxation occurs, the book then examines how
relaxation occurs. It shows that relaxation involves a sequence of
complex non-equilibrium dynamics including fast self-collimated
plasma jets, kink instabilities, magnetic reconnection, and
phenomena outside the realm of magnetohydrodynamics.
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 plasma
waves and the issue of Landau damping. Magnetohydrodynamic
equilibrium and stability are tackled with emphasis on the
topological concepts of magnetic helicity and self-organization.
Advanced topics follow, including magnetic reconnection, nonlinear
waves, and the Fokker-Planck treatment of collisions. The book
concludes by discussing unconventional plasmas such as non-neutral
and dusty plasmas. Written for beginning graduate students and
advanced undergraduates, this text emphasizes the fundamental
principles that apply across many different contexts.
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