Plasma Physics
2
School of Physics Senior Physics Lecture Module Plasma Physics Semester 1, 2014 MODULE DESCRIPTION THE DETAILS Credit points 2 Offered Semester 1 Prerequisites MATH2061 or MATH2961 or MATH2067 and Intermediate Electromagnetism Classes 19 hours of lectures Assessment 2 assignments and a final exam Lecturer Joe Khachan, School of Physics, Room 219B, Phone: 9351 42713, email: [email protected] Course website: http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~khachan/plasma GENERAL AIMS The aim of the course is to provide an understanding of fundamental phenomena in plasmas and to familiarise students with the basic methods of theoretical and experimental plasma physics. LEARNING COMMITMENTS There will be 19 lectures starting on Friday 16 April and ending Friday 6 June. Physics Lecture Theatre 5 – Tuesday 1pm, Wednesday 9am and Friday 12pm The week-by-week timetable can be found on the Senior Physics website: http://sydney.edu.au/science/physics/current/sphys/timetable_weekly_1.shtml TEXTBOOK The main reference book for this course is Introduction to plasma physics and controlled fusion, volume 1 by Francis Chen Plenum Press, New York, 1984. It is available in the University Lirbrary. There are other suitable books on plasma physics such as the following, which are all available in the library: Fundamentals of Plasma Physics by Paul Bellan, Cambridge University Press, 2006. Introduction to plasma physics: with space and laboratory applications by Donald A. Gurnett, Amitava Bhattacharjee Fundamentals of plasma physics, by J.A. Bittencourt, Pergamon Press, 1986. ASSESSMENT Assessment will be based on a final examination and two assignments. The assignments will be available from the eLearning site and can be submitted to the Physics Office, Room 210, by 5pm on the due date. Assignments submitted late without permission will incur an immediate 20% late penalty, with a further 20% penalty accumulating each week until the assignment is submitted. This policy applies by default, unless your lecturer advises you differently. Assessment task Percentage Mark Due Date Assignment 1 12.5% Friday 23 May Assignment 2 12.5% Friday 6 June Final Examination 75% Exam Period
-
Upload
alex-trinh -
Category
Documents
-
view
52 -
download
0
description
Plasma physics module
Transcript of Plasma Physics
School of Physics
Senior Physics Lecture Module Plasma Physics Semester 1, 2014
MODULE DESCRIPTION THE DETAILS
Credit points 2 Offered Semester 1 Prerequisites MATH2061 or MATH2961 or MATH2067 and Intermediate
Electromagnetism Classes 19 hours of lectures Assessment 2 assignments and a final exam Lecturer Joe Khachan, School of Physics, Room 219B,
Phone: 9351 42713, email: [email protected] Course website: http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~khachan/plasma
GENERAL AIMS The aim of the course is to provide an understanding of fundamental phenomena in plasmas and to familiarise students with the basic methods of theoretical and experimental plasma physics. LEARNING COMMITMENTS There will be 19 lectures starting on Friday 16 April and ending Friday 6 June.
Physics Lecture Theatre 5 – Tuesday 1pm, Wednesday 9am and Friday 12pm The week-by-week timetable can be found on the Senior Physics website: http://sydney.edu.au/science/physics/current/sphys/timetable_weekly_1.shtml TEXTBOOK The main reference book for this course is Introduction to plasma physics and controlled fusion, volume 1 by Francis Chen Plenum Press, New York, 1984. It is available in the University Lirbrary. There are other suitable books on plasma physics such as the following, which are all available in the library: Fundamentals of Plasma Physics by Paul Bellan, Cambridge University Press, 2006. Introduction to plasma physics: with space and laboratory applications by Donald A. Gurnett, Amitava Bhattacharjee Fundamentals of plasma physics, by J.A. Bittencourt, Pergamon Press, 1986. ASSESSMENT Assessment will be based on a final examination and two assignments. The assignments will be available from the eLearning site and can be submitted to the Physics Office, Room 210, by 5pm on the due date. Assignments submitted late without permission will incur an immediate 20% late penalty, with a further 20% penalty accumulating each week until the assignment is submitted. This policy applies by default, unless your lecturer advises you differently. Assessment task Percentage Mark Due Date Assignment 1 12.5% Friday 23 May Assignment 2 12.5% Friday 6 June Final Examination 75% Exam Period
2
COURSE CONTENT Introduction. Definition of a plasma. Concept of temperature. Debye shielding. Applications of plasma physics.
Single-particle motions. Uniform E and B fields. Non-uniform E and B fields. Time varying E and B fields. Adiabatic invariants. Plasmas as fluids. The fluid equation of motion. Fluid drifts perpendicular to B. Fluid drifts parallel to B.
Waves in Plasmas. EM waves with B=0. Electrostatic waves with B=0. EM waves with finite B. Propagation parallel and perpendicular to B. Resonances and cutoffs.
Gaseous electronics. Mean free path. Diffusion. Ionization. Recombination. Resistivity. Paschen’s law. The sheath. The Child-Langmuir law. Plasma potential. Langmuir probes.
Magnetohydrodynamics. Equilibrium. Magnetic pressure and tension. MHD stability.
Kinetic theory. Distribution function. Vlasov equation. Boltzmann equation. Landau damping.
