
Basic Space Plasma Physics
Imperial College Press
Published on 1. September 1996
Book
Paperback/Softback
340 pages
978-1-86094-079-8 (ISBN)
Description
This textbook deals with the requirements of space physics. The first part starts with a description of the Earth's plasma environment, followed by a derivation of single particle motions in electromagnetic fields, with applications to the Earth's magnetosphere. Then the origin and effects of collisions and conductivities, formation of the ionosphere, magnetospheric convection and dynamics, and solar wind-magnetosphere coupling are discussed.The second part of the book presents a more theoretical foundation of plasma physics, starting from kinetic theory. Introducing moments of the distribution function permits derivation of the fluid equations, followed by an analysis of fluid boundaries, with the Earth's magnetopause and bow shock as examples. Finally, fluid and kinetic theory are applied to derive the relevant wave modes in a plasma.A representative selection of the many space plasma instabilities and relevant aspects of nonlinear theory is given in a companion textbook, Advanced Space Plasma Physics, by the same authors.
Reviews / Votes
"... the book is still one of the best addressing space plasma physics." Pure Appl. Geophys., 1999More details
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
New edition
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
494 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-86094-079-8 (9781860940798)
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Schweitzer Classification