Plasmas comprise more than 99% of the observable universe. They are important in many technologies and are key potential sources for fusion power. Atomic and radiation physics is critical for the diagnosis, observation and simulation of astrophysical and laboratory plasmas, and plasma physicists working in a range of areas from astrophysics, magnetic fusion, and inertial fusion utilise atomic and radiation physics to interpret measurements. This text develops the physics of emission, absorption and interaction of light in astrophysics and in laboratory plasmas from first principles using the physics of various fields of study including quantum mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and statistical physics. Linking undergraduate level atomic and radiation physics with the advanced material required for postgraduate study and research, this text adopts a highly pedagogical approach and includes numerous exercises within each chapter for students to reinforce their understanding of the key concepts.

An introduction to special relativity and its applications, with an emphasis on the interaction and production of light in plasma.

Plasmas comprise more than 99% of the observable universe. They are important in many technologies and are key potential sources for fusion power. Atomic and radiation physics is critical for the diagnosis, observation and simulation of astrophysical and laboratory plasmas, and plasma physicists working in a range of areas from astrophysics, magnetic fusion, and inertial fusion utilise atomic and radiation physics to interpret measurements. This text develops the physics of emission, absorption and interaction of light in astrophysics and in laboratory plasmas from first principles using the physics of various fields of study including quantum mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and statistical physics. Linking undergraduate level atomic and radiation physics with the advanced material required for postgraduate study and research, this text adopts a highly pedagogical approach and includes numerous exercises within each chapter for students to reinforce their understanding of the key concepts.

This book is an outgrowth of courses in plasma physics which I have taught at Kiel University for many years. During this time I have tried to convince my students that plasmas as different as gas dicharges, fusion plasmas and space plasmas can be described in a uni ed way by simple models. The challenge in teaching plasma physics is its apparent complexity. The wealth of plasma phenomena found in so diverse elds makes it quite different from atomic physics, where atomic structure, spectral lines and chemical binding can all be derived from a single equation—the Schrödinger equation. I positively accept the variety of plasmas and refrain from subdividing plasma physics into the traditional, but arti cially separated elds, of hot, cold and space plasmas. This is why I like to confront my students, and the readers of this book, with examples from so many elds. By this approach, I believe, they will be able to become discoverers who can see the commonality between a falling apple and planetary motion. As an experimentalist, I am convinced that plasma physics can be best understood from a bottom-up approach with many illustrating examples that give the students con dence in their understanding of plasma processes. The theoretical framework of plasma physics can then be introduced in several steps of re nement. In the end, the student (or reader) will see that there is something like the Schrödinger equation, namely the Vlasov-Maxwell model of plasmas, from which nearly all phenomena in collisionless plasmas can be derived.

Plasma Atomic Physics provides an overview of the elementary processes within atoms and ions in plasmas, and introduces readers to the language of atomic spectra and light emission, allowing them to explore the various and fascinating radiative properties of matter. The book familiarizes readers with the complex quantum-mechanical descriptions of electromagnetic and collisional processes, while also developing a number of effective qualitative models that will allow them to obtain adequately comprehensive descriptions of collisional-radiative processes in dense plasmas, dielectronic satellite emissions and autoionizing states, hollow ion X-ray emissions, polarized atoms and ions, hot electrons, charge exchange, atomic population kinetics, and radiation transport. Numerous applications to plasma spectroscopy and experimental data are presented, which concern magnetic confinement fusion, inertial fusion, laser-produced plasmas, and X-ray free-electron lasers’ interaction with matter. Particular highlights include the development of quantum kinetics to a level surpassing the almost exclusively used quasi-classical approach in atomic population kinetics, the introduction of the recently developed Quantum-F-Matrix-Theory (QFMT) to study the impact of plasma microfields on atomic populations, and the Enrico Fermi equivalent photon method to develop the “Plasma Atom”, where the response properties and oscillator strength distribution are represented with the help of a local plasma frequency of the atomic electron density. Based on courses held by the authors, this material will assist students and scientists studying the complex processes within atoms and ions in different kinds of plasmas by developing relatively simple but highly effective models. Considerable attention is paid to a number of qualitative models that deliver physical transparency, while extensive tables and formulas promote the practical and useful application of complex theories and provide effective tools for non-specialist readers.

Although based on lectures given for graduate students and postgraduates starting in plasma physics, this concise introduction to the fundamental processes and tools is as well directed at established researchers who are newcomers to spectroscopy and seek quick access to the diagnostics of plasmas ranging from low- to high-density technical systems at low temperatures, as well as from low- to high-density hot plasmas. Basic ideas and fundamental concepts are introduced as well as typical instrumentation from the X-ray to the infrared spectral regions. Examples, techniques and methods illustrate the possibilities. This book directly addresses the experimentalist who actually has to carry out the experiments and their interpretation. For that reason about half of the book is devoted to experimental problems, the instrumentation, components, detectors and calibration.

Plasma Physics: Confinement, Transport and Collective Effects provides an overview of modern plasma research with special focus on confinement and related issues. Beginning with a broad introduction, the book leads graduate students and researchers – also those from related fields - to an understanding of the state-of-the-art in modern plasma physics. Furthermore, it presents a methodological cross section ranging from plasma applications and plasma diagnostics to numerical simulations, the latter providing an increasingly important link between theory and experiment. Effective references guide the reader from introductory texts through to contemporary research. Some related exercises in computational plasma physics are supplied on a special web site

Observations and physical concepts are interwoven to give basic explanations of phenomena and also show the limitations in these explanations and identify some fundamental questions. Compared to conventional plasma physics textbooks this book focuses on the concepts relevant in the large-scale space plasmas. It combines basic concepts with current research and new observations in interplanetary space and in the magnetospheres. Graduate students and young researchers starting to work in this special field of science, will find the numerous references to review articles as well as important original papers helpful to orientate themselves in the literature. Emphasis is on energetic particles and their interaction with the plasma as examples for non-thermal phenomena, shocks and their role in particle acceleration as examples for non-linear phenomena. This second edition has been updated and extended. Improvements include: the use of SI units; addition of recent results from SOHO and Ulysses; improved treatment of the magnetosphere as a dynamic phenomenon; text restructured to provide a closer coupling between basic physical concepts and observed complex phenomena.