Emphasis of this text is on the basic assumptions and the formulation of the theory of compressible flow as well as on the methods of solving problems. Published by Science Press, Beijing, distributed by VNR in the US. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

This book is based on the lecture notes which the author gave in a seminar of the same title in the Institut fur theoretische Gasdynamik, D. V. L. e. V., Aachen, Germany, during the academic year of 1957-1958. The subject matter has been rewritten and expanded after the author's return to the University of Maryland. The purpose of this book is to give a theoretical introduction to plasma dynamics and magnetogasdynamics from the gasdynamic point of view. Attention is given to the basic assumptions and the formulation of the theory of the flow problems of a plasma, an ionized gas, as well as to the various methods of solving these problems. Since plasma dynamics is still in a developing stage, the author hopes that this book _may furnish the readers some basic elements in the theory of plasma -dynamics so that they may find it useful for further study and research in this new field. After the introduction in which the scope of plasma. dynamics is briefly discussed, the fundamental equations of plasma dynamics from the macro scopic point of view, i. e., the theory of continuum has been analyzed, in detail in chapters IT to IV, including many simplified cases sUQh as m,agneto gasdynamics, magnetohydrodynamics, electromaguetodynamics, radiation magnetogasdynamics etc. In chapter V, the important parameters and their range of applicatIons have been treated. The parameters are useful in the correlation of experi mental results.

When the temperature of a gas is not too high and the density of a gas is not too low, the transfer of heat by radiation is usually negligibly small in comparison with that by conduction and convection. However, in the hypersonic flow of space flight, particularly in the re-entry of a space vehicle, and in the flow problem involving nuclear reaction such as in the blast wave of nuclear bomb or in the peaceful use of the controlled fusion reaction, the temperature of the gas may be very high and the density of the gas may be very low. As a result, thermal radiation becomes a very important mode of heat transfer. A complete analysis of such high temperature flow fields should be based upon a study of the gasdynamic field and the radiation field simultaneously. Hence during the last few years, considerable efforts have been made to study such interaction problems between gasdynamic field and radiation field and a new title, Radiation Gasdynamics, has been suggested for this subject. Even though radiative transfer has been studied for a long time by astro physicists, the interaction between the radiation field and the gadsynamic field has been only extensively studied recently."

Matter may be divided into four phases or states: solid, liquid, gas and plasma (ionized gas). The termfluid has been used as a general name for the last three states: liquid, gas, and plasma because they may be deformed without applying any force, provided that the change of shape occurs very slowly. Furthermore, when a large number of small solid particles flow in a fluid, if the velocity of the fluid is sufficiently high, the behavior of such solids is similar to ordinary fluid. We may consider these solid particles as pseudofluid. Under proper conditions, we may treat fluid flow problems for solid (pseudofluid), liquid, gas and/or plasma. In ordinary fluid mechanics, we treat the flow problems of a fluid which is in one state only, i.e., liquid, gas, or plasma, and the solids in this fluid medium are assumed to be rigid bodies which may be considered as given boundary conditions of the flow problems.