Collective Modes in Inhomogeneous Plasmas

Collective Modes in Inhomogeneous Plasmas: Kinetic and Advanced Fluid Theory presents the collective drift and MHD-type modes in inhomogeneous plasmas from the point of view of two-fluid and kinetic theory. Written by an internationally respected plasma transport theoretician, this introductory monograph emphasizes the description of the plasma rather than the geometry to present a more general approach to a large class of plasma problems. Starting with generalized fluid equations for low frequency phenomena, the author shows how drift waves and MHD-type modes can arise from the effects of inhomogeneities in the plasma. The kinetic description is then presented to reveal a host of phenomena ranging from vortex modes and finite Larmor radius effects to trapped and fast particle instabilities, transport, diffusion, and other advanced fluid effects. Theoretical and computational plasma physicists modeling confined plasmas will find this illustrated book a very valuable addition to their collection.