Physics Help
Plasma Physics
Plasma physics
Plasma physics is the field of
physics which studies the dynamic behaviour of
plasmas.
Briefly, it is the study of the statistical properties of a
field of charged particles, called a plasma. Sometimes called "the fourth state
of matter" (besides solid, liquid, and gas), plasma in this context refers to a
gas that has been subjected to enough energy to dissociate atoms from their
electrons (ionization), producing a cloud of ions and electrons. Because these
particles are ionized (charged), the gas behaves in a different fashion than
neutral gas in, for instance, the presence of
electromagnetic fields.
A common fluid treatment of plasmas comes from a combination
of the
Navier Stokes Equations of
fluid mechanics and
Maxwell's equations of
electromagnetism. The resulting set of equations, with appropriate
approximations, is called
Magnetohydrodynamics (or MHD for short).
Plasma physics is important in astrophysics in that many
astronomical objects including
stars,
accretion disks,
nebula, and the
interstellar medium consist of plasma.
Fields of active research include (but of course are not
limited to):
-
Plasma equilibria and stability
-
Nuclear fusion
-
Plasma diagnostics
-
Plasma sources
-
Plasma interactions with waves and beams
-
Industrial plasmas
-
Plasma theory
-
Plasma devices
-
Magnetic fusion energy (MFE) --
tokamak, stellarator, reversed
field pinch, magnetic
mirror
-
Inertial fusion energy (IFE) (also Inertial confinement fusion - ICF)
-
Space plasmas, e.g. Earth's
magnetosphere
-
Plasma cosmology
Home | Up | Astrophysics | Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physics | Computational Physics | Condensed Matter Physics
Cosmology | Cryogenics | Fluid Dynamics | Polymer Physics | Optics | Materials Physics | Mechanics | Nuclear Physics
Plasma Physics | Particle Physics | Vehicle Dynamics
Physics Help, made by MultiMedia | Free content and software
This guide is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
|
