551/MAE 541 General Plasma Physics
I
Nathaniel J. Fisch and Hong Qin
This is an introductory
course to plasma physics, with sample applications in fusion, space and
astrophysics, semiconductor etching, microwave generation:
characterization of the plasma state, Debye shielding, plasma and
cyclotron frequencies, collision rates and mean-free paths, atomic
processes, adiabatic invariance, orbit theory, magnetic confinement of
single-charged particles, two-fluid description, magnetohydrodynamic
waves and instabilities, heat flow, diffusion, kinetic description, and
Landau damping. The course may be taken by undergraduates with
permission of the instructor.
552 General Plasma
Physics II
William Tang and H. Ji
Ideal
magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equilibrium, MHD energy principle, ideal and
resistive MHD stability, drift-kinetic equation, collisions, classical
and neoclassical transport, drift waves and low-frequency instabilities,
high-frequency microinstabilities, and quasilinear theory.
553 Plasma Waves and Instabilities
Cynthia K.
Phillips and Jonathan E. Menard
Waves in a cold magnetized plasma;
resonances and cutoffs; energy transport; normal modes for a hot plasma;
Landau and cyclotron damping; velocity-space instabilities; quasilinear
diffusion; propagation through an inhomogeneous plasma; mode conversion
drift waves; absolute and convective instabilities; effects of weak
collisions; and applications to plasma confinement, radio frequency
plasma heating, and magnetospheric propagation.
554 Irreversible Processes in Plasmas
Gregory W.
Hammett
Fluctuations and transport in plasma, origins of
irreversibility, Fokker-Planck theory, statistical hierarchies, kinetic
equations, limiting forms of the Coulomb collision operator,
test-particle calculations, radiation, fluctuation-dissipation theorem,
transport coefficients in magnetized plasma, and Onsager relations.
Applications to current problems in plasma research.
555 Fusion Plasmas and Plasma Diagnostics
Philip C.
Efthimion, Richard P. Majeski, and Michael C. Zarnstorff
This course
gives an introduction to experimental plasma physics, with an emphasis
on high-temperature plasmas for fusion. Requirements for fusion plasmas:
confinement, beta, power and particle exhaust. Tokamak fusion reactors.
Status of experimental understanding: what we know and how we know it.
Key plasma diagnostic techniques: magnetic measurements, Langmuir
probes, microwave techniques, spectroscopic techniques, electron
cyclotron emission, Thomson scattering.
556
Advanced Plasma Dynamics
Roscoe B. White
Magnetic
coordinates, tokamak equilibria, Hamiltonian guiding center formalism,
transport in the presence of ripple and MHD modes, nonlinear MHD and
resistive modes, and the kinetic destabilization of MHD
modes.
557/APC 503 Analytical Techniques in
Differential Equations I
Roscoe B. White
Local analysis of
solutions to linear and nonlinear differential and difference equations,
asymptotic methods, asymptotic analysis of integrals, perturbation
theory, summation methods, boundary layer theory, WKB theory, and
multiple-scale theory.
558 Seminar in Plasma
Physics
Ronald C. Davidson (Fall 2006)
Nathaniel J. Fisch
and Allan Reiman (Spring 2007)
The purpose of the course is to
acquaint students with current developments in high-temperature plasma
physics and fusion research. Topics are drawn from current literature
and may encompass advances in experimental and theoretical studies of
laboratory and naturally-occurring high-temperature plasmas, including
stability and transport, nonlinear dynamics and turbulence, magnetic
reconnection, self-heating of "burning" plasmas, and innovative concepts
for advanced fusion systems. Topics may also cover advances in plasma
applications, including laser-plasma interactions, nonnuetral plasms,
high-intensity accelerators, plasma propulsion, plasma processing, and
coherent electromagnetic wave generation.
The Graduate Seminar in
Plasma Physics is currently organized each semester around special
topics in experimental and theoretical plasma physics, with recent
topics including nonneutral plasmas and advanced accelerators (Spring
Semester, 1999), and magnetic reconnection in laboratory and space
plasmas (Fall Semester, 1999). Following one or two introductory
lectures by the faculty, each graduate student gives one of the weekly
seminars based on a particular published article taken from a small
repository of topical papers prepared by the faculty.
Seminar
Schedule
559/APC 539 Turbulence in
Fluids and Plasma
John A. Krommes
A comprehensive
introduction to the theory of turbulence and transport in plasma:
transition to turbulence, fundamental mechanisms for turbulence,
stochasticity; experimental observations; fundamental equations,
especially nonlinear gyrokinetics; computer simulations; linear and
nonlinear wave-particle and wave-wave interactions; statistical
closures, including the direct-interaction approximation; variational
methods. Applications to confinement of magnetized plasma, including
drift wave, tearing mode, and MHD turbulence, and transport due to
destroyed flux surfaces.
560 Computational
Methods in Plasma Physics
Stephen C. Jardin
Analysis of
methods for the numerical solution of the partial differential equations
of plasma physics, including those of elliptic, parabolic, hyperbolic,
and eigenvalue type. Topics include finite difference, finite element,
spectral, particle-in-cell, Monte Carlo, moving grid, and
multiple-time-scale techniques, applied to the problems of plasma
equilibrium, transport, and stability.
562 Laboratory in Plasma Physics
Samuel A.
Cohen
Basic concepts and experimental techniques used to measure the
properties and behavior of gaseous and solid-state plasmas.
Representative experiments include probe measurements of plasma
parameters, wave propagation and damping, microwave resonances, electron
scattering, architecture of glow discharges, and determination of plasma
temperature using atomic physics effects.
565 Physics of Nonneutral Plasmas
Ronald
C. Davidson
This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the
physics of nonneutral plasmas and charged particle beam systems with
intense self fields. The subject matter is developed systematically from
first principles, based on fluid, Vlasov, or Klimontovich-Maxwell
statistical descriptions as appropriate. Topics include the development
of nonlinear stability and confinement theorems; experimental and
theoretical investigations of collective waves and instabilities; phase
transitions in strongly-coupled nonneutral plasmas; coherent
electromagnetic radiation generation by free electron lasers, cyclotron
masers, and magnetrons; nonlinear processes and chaotic particle
dynamics in high-intensity periodic-focusing accelerators; and nonlinear
processes related to compact plasma-based accelerator concepts.
501, 502 Electricity and
Magnetism
Kirk McDonald
The course provides a systematic
treatment of the theory of electromagnetic phenomena from an advanced
standpoint. Maxwell's equations are discussed, with special attention
given to their physical meaning. Other topics include dielectric and
magnetic media, radiation, and scattering.
505, 506 Quantum Mechanics I
Robert
Seiringer
The physical principles and mathematical formalism of
quantum theory, with an emphasis on applications to atomic, molecular,
and many-body physics; scattering phenomena; and electromagnetism
(photon physics) are studied.
507, 508 Quantum
Mechanics II
Curtis G. Callan, Jr.
The course explores the
principles of quantum field theory, with an emphasis on practical
applications rather than formal techniques. Examples are drawn from
many-body physics, laser physics, particle physics, and
cosmology.
511 Thermodynamics, Kinetic Theory, and
Statistical Mechanics
Frederick D. Haldane and Elliot H.
Lieb
The course explores the physical principles and mathematical
formalism of statistical mechanics, with an emphasis on applications to
thermodynamics, condensed matter physics, physical chemistry,
biophysics, astrophysics, etc.
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