Patrick H. Diamond – författare

This three-volume series presents the ideas, models and approaches essential to understanding plasma dynamics and self-organization for researchers and graduate students in plasma physics, controlled fusion and related fields such as plasma astrophysics. Volume I develops the physical kinetics of plasma turbulence through a focus on quasi-particle models and dynamics. It discusses the essential physics concepts and theoretical methods for describing weak and strong fluid and phase space turbulence in plasma systems far from equilibrium. The book connects the traditionally 'plasma' topic of weak or wave turbulence theory to more familiar fluid turbulence theory, and extends both to the realm of collisionless phase space turbulence. This gives readers a deeper understanding of these related fields, and builds a foundation for future applications to multi-scale processes of self-organization in tokamaks and other confined plasmas. This book emphasizes the conceptual foundations and physical intuition underpinnings of plasma turbulence theory.

This invaluable book provides a unique opportunity to embrace the complex and fascinating theory of relaxation processes in magnetized plasmas, both in astrophysics and in controlled fusion plasmas. The subjects range from dynamo and reconnection processes in magneto-hydrodynamics and electromagnetic turbulence to fast transport events in self-organized turbulence. Such phenomena, recognized as key bolts in our present understanding, turn out to be extremely challenging for theoretical models. This book efficiently helps to bridge our understanding and description of such processes, analogously observed in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas.