PHM8510 - PLASMA AND SPACE PHYSICS

Module Identifier	PHM8510
Module Title	PLASMA AND SPACE PHYSICS
Academic Year	2001/2002
Co-ordinator	Dr Eleri Pryse
Semester	Semester 1
Other staff	Dr Andrew Breen
Pre-Requisite	Successful Completion of Year 3 of the MPhys Scheme
Course delivery	Lecture	20 lectures
Assessment	Exam	3 Hours End of Semester Examinations	100%

Module description

The core of the course will cover the essentials of plasma physics, including the nature of a plasma, motion of single charged particles in a magnetic field, magnetohydrodynamics, waves in plasma, and instabilities. The theory will be illustrated by examples from interplanetary space and the magnetosphere.

Learning outcomes

After taking this module students should be able to:

understand fundamental characteristics of plasmas.
discuss the behaviour of plasmas from the standpoints of both individual particles and bulk fluid-like properties.
explain the properties of certain types of waves and instabilities in plasmas.

Outline syllabus

Occurrence of plasmas, temperature of a plasma, Debye shielding, plasma oscillations.

Motion of a single charged particle in
(a) a homogenous magnetic field; gyro-radius and frequency.
(b) a converging magnetic field; magnetic mirror.
(c) an inhomogenous magnetic field; drift motion.
(d) a magnetic field with a perpendicular electric field.

Magnetohydrodynamics: Maxwell's equations applied to a plasma; diffusion time of magnetic field in a plasma; "frozen-in" fields, magnetic Reynold's number.

Waves in a plasma: electron plasma waves, ion-acoustic waves, MHD waves, shear Alfven waves, fast-mode (compressional) waves.

Types of instability, two-stream instability (simple "doppler-shift" treatment), Rayleigh-Taylor and Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities (qualitative treatment).

Reading Lists

Books
** Reference Text
Francis F Chen. Introduction to Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. 0306413329
Kivelson M G and Russell C T. Introduction to Space Physics. 0521457149