Kinetic theory is the link between the non--equilibrium statistical mechanics of many particle systems and macroscopic or phenomenological physics. Therefore much attention is paid in this book both to the derivation of kinetic equations with their limitations and generalizations on the one hand, and to the use of kinetic theory for the description of physical phenomena and the calculation of transport coefficients on the other hand. The book is meant for researchers in the field, graduate students and advanced undergraduate students. At the end of each chapter a section of exercises is added not only for the purpose of providing the reader with the opportunity to test his understanding of the theory and his ability to apply it, but also to complete the chapter with relevant additions and examples that otherwise would have overburdened the main text of the preceding sections. The author is indebted to the physicists who taught him Statistical Mechanics, Kinetic Theory, Plasma Physics and Fluid Mechanics. I gratefully acknowledge the fact that much of the inspiration without which this book would not have been possible, originated from what I learned from several outstanding teachers. In particular I want to mention the late Prof. dr. H. C. Brinkman, who directed my first steps in the field of theoretical plasma physics, my thesis advisor Prof. dr. N. G. Van Kampen and Prof. dr. A. N. Kaufman, whose course on Non-Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics in Berkeley I remember with delight.

Kinetic Processes in Gases and Plasmas provides a survey of studies on transport and chemical kinetic processes in high temperature gases and plasmas. The book is concerned with conditions produced by the interaction of an object with the atmosphere at hypersonic velocities. The text also provides a foundation for the flow field equations which include chemical reactions and other transport processes, and to present in some detail the microscopic considerations underlying these calculations. Chapters are devoted to the discussion of topics such as the molecular theory of transport equations; transport processes in ionized gases; and inelastic energy transfer processes and chemical kinetics. Aerospace engineers, physicists, chemists, and astrophysicists will find the book a good reference material.

Emphasis is placed on the analysis of translational, rotational, vibrational and electronically excited state kinetics, coupled to the electron Boltzmann equation.

This book can be described as a student's edition of the author's Dynamical Theory of Gases. It is written, however, with the needs of the student of physics and physical chemistry in mind, and those parts of which the interest was mainly mathematical have been discarded. This does not mean that the book contains no serious mathematical discussion; the discussion in particular of the distribution law is quite detailed; but in the main the mathematics is concerned with the discussion of particular phenomena rather than with the discussion of fundamentals.

Kinetic theory is the link between the non--equilibrium statistical mechanics of many particle systems and macroscopic or phenomenological physics. Therefore much attention is paid in this book both to the derivation of kinetic equations with their limitations and generalizations on the one hand, and to the use of kinetic theory for the description of physical phenomena and the calculation of transport coefficients on the other hand. The book is meant for researchers in the field, graduate students and advanced undergraduate students. At the end of each chapter a section of exercises is added not only for the purpose of providing the reader with the opportunity to test his understanding of the theory and his ability to apply it, but also to complete the chapter with relevant additions and examples that otherwise would have overburdened the main text of the preceding sections. The author is indebted to the physicists who taught him Statistical Mechanics, Kinetic Theory, Plasma Physics and Fluid Mechanics. I gratefully acknowledge the fact that much of the inspiration without which this book would not have been possible, originated from what I learned from several outstanding teachers. In particular I want to mention the late Prof. dr. H. C. Brinkman, who directed my first steps in the field of theoretical plasma physics, my thesis advisor Prof. dr. N. G. Van Kampen and Prof. dr. A. N. Kaufman, whose course on Non-Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics in Berkeley I remember with delight.

The book deals with the propagation and absorption of high frequency waves in plasmas. The text collects in a structured and self-contained way the basic knowledge on the broad and varied behavior of plasma waves, adopting the microscopic kinetic description of the plasma as unifying principle. The internal coherence of the theory is explicitly stressed, and interesting physical phenomena peculiar to plasmas are discussed in detail, including collisionless damping of waves, the development of stochasticity in the interactions of charged particles with electromagnetic waves, and nonlinear interactions between waves. The most common and useful approximations used in solving practical problems are derived as special cases from the more general kinetic approach, thereby clarifying their meaning and domain of applicability. This exposition should be useful to plasma physicists both as an introduction and a reference to this field of research.

Developed from the lectures of a leading expert in plasma wave research, Plasma Kinetic Theory provides the essential material for an introductory course on plasma physics as well as the basis for a more advanced course on kinetic theory. Exploring various wave phenomena in plasmas, it offers wide-ranging coverage of the field. After intr

Many laboratory and astrophysical plasmas show deviations from local ther modynamic equilibrium (LTE). This monograph develops non-LTE plasma spectroscopy as a kinetic theory of particles and photons, considering the radiation field as a photon gas whose distribution function (the radiation in tensity) obeys a kinetic equation (the radiative transfer equation), just as the distribution functions of particles obey kinetic equations. Such a unified ap proach provides clear insight into the physics of non-LTE plasmas. Chapter 1 treats the principle of detailed balance, of central importance for understanding the non-LTE effects in plasmas. Chapters 2, 3 deal with kinetic equations of particles and photons, respectively, followed by a chapter on the fluid description of gases with radiative interactions. Chapter 5 is devoted to the H theorem, and closes the more general first part of the book. The last two chapters deal with more specific topics. After briefly discuss ing optically thin plasmas, Chap. 6 treats non-LTE line transfer by two-level atoms, the line profile coefficients of three-level atoms, and non-Maxwellian electron distribution functions. Chapter 7 discusses topics where momentum exchange between matter and radiation is crucial: the approach to thermal equilibrium through interaction with blackbody radiation, radiative forces, and Compton scattering. A number of appendices have been added to make the book self-contained and to treat more special questions. In particular, Appendix B contains an in troductory discussion of atomic line profile coefficients.