Overview
- Presents an authoritative and comprehensive formulation of plasma kinetic theory, including all relativistic and quantum effects, plus the response of the vacuum
- Suitable both as a graduate level text and a reference source for researchers
- Features the treatment of the collective response of an electron gas based on exact solutions of Dirac's equation in the presence of a magnetic field of arbitrary strength
Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Physics (LNP, volume 854)
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About this book
Quantum Plasmadynamics is a synthesis of the kinetic theory of plasmas and quantum electrodynamics (QED). In this volume, the approach applied to unmagnetized plasmas in volume 1 is generalized to magnetized plasmas. First, a covariant version of nonquantum kinetic theory is formulated for single-particle (emission and scattering) processes and the collective-medium response. The relativistic quantum treatment is based on solutions of Dirac's equation for an electron in a magnetostatic field, and single-particle processes are treated using a magnetized version of QED. The response of an electron gas is derived by generalizing the derivation of the response of the magnetized vacuum.
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Keywords
Table of contents (9 chapters)
Reviews
From the reviews of Vol. 1 – Quantum Plasmadynamics: Unmagnetized Plasmas (Lect. Notes Phys. 735)
The ten chapters and 464 pages book […] gives the best introduction to the quantum electrodynamics and the kinetic theory of relativistic and non-relativistic charged particles. […] The materials of the most important part of the book are supported by illustrations. […]useful for advanced graduate students, scientists and all who are interested in plasma physics and confinement systems. (M. J. Canfell, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1158, 2009)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Following completion of his doctoral thesis in theoretical particle physics at Oxford University in 1965, Don Melrose changed his research interests to plasma astrophysics. In 1969, after post-doctoral appointments in the UK and the USA, he returned to Australia to the Australian National University. He eventually left to take his current appointment as Professor of Physics (Theoretical) at the University of Sydney in 1979. He made important contributions to the theory of coherent emission processes in astrophysics: plasma emission in solar radio bursts, electron cyclotron maser emission and pulsar radio emission. His current interests include pulsars, quantum plasmas and solar flares.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Quantum Plasmadynamics
Book Subtitle: Magnetized Plasmas
Authors: Donald Melrose
Series Title: Lecture Notes in Physics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4045-1
Publisher: Springer New York, NY
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4614-4044-4Published: 20 September 2012
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4614-4045-1Published: 20 September 2012
Series ISSN: 0075-8450
Series E-ISSN: 1616-6361
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIV, 490
Number of Illustrations: 41 b/w illustrations
Topics: Astrophysics and Astroparticles, Quantum Physics, Atoms and Molecules in Strong Fields, Laser Matter Interaction, Plasma Physics