A variety of plasmas include molecules rather than only ions or atoms. Examples are ionospheres of the Earth and other planets, stellar atmospheres, gaseous discharges for use in various devices and processes, and fusion plasmas in the edge region. This book describes the role of molecules in those plasmas by showing elementary collision processes involving those molecules.

Atomic and molecular processes play an important role in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas for a wide range of conditions, and determine, in part, their electrical, transport, thermal, and radiation properties. The study of these and other plasma properties requires a knowledge of the cross sections, reaction rate coefficients, and inelastic energy transfers for a variety of collisional reactions. In this review, we provide quantitative information about the most important collision processes occurring in hy drogen, helium, and hydrogen-helium plasmas in the temperature range from 0. 1 eV to 20 keY. The material presented here is based on published atomic and molecular collision data, theoretical calculations, and appro priate extrapolation and interpolation procedures. This review gives the properties of each reaction, graphs of the cross sections and reaction rate coeffiCients, and the coefficients of analytical fits for these quantities. We present this information in a form that will enable researchers who are not experts in atomic physics to use the data easily. The authors thank their colleagues at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and in the atomic physics community who have made many useful suggestions for the selection and presentation o. f t. he material. We gratefully acknowledge the excellent technical assistance of Elizabeth Carey for the typing, and Bernie Giehl for the drafting. This work was supported in part by the U. S. Department of Energy Contract No. DE-AC02-76-CHO-3073. Princeton, USA R. K. Janev W. D. Langer September, 1987 K. Evans, Jr. , D. E.

This well-illustrated resource provides vital cross-section information for the atomic and molecular collision processes taking place in the boundary region of magnetically confined fusion plasmas and in other laboratory and astrophysical low-temperature plasmas. The expertly assessed information in this noteworthy volume includes the most recent experimental and theoretical results presented in a convenient format. Coverage includes the processes of electron-impact excitation and ionization of plasma edge atoms, electron-ion recombination, dissociative collision processes involving electrons and much more.

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.

This volume deals with the basic knowledge and understanding of the fundamental interactions of low-energy electrons with molecules. Recent advances in electron-molecule interaction processes are discussed and a unique up-to-date and comprehensive account of the fundamental interactions of low-energy electrons with molecules of current interest in modern technology, specially the semiconductor industry, is presented. The material provided in this volume will aid scientists and engineers working in many fields of basic and applied science and engineering. The unique and authoritative knowledge, information, and understanding it provides generically underpins advances in plasma, laser, lighting, discharge, environmental, radiation, and other technologies.

The growing number of scientific and technological applications of plasma physics in the field of Aerospace Engineering requires that graduate students and professionals understand their principles. This introductory book is the expanded version of class notes of lectures I taught for several years to students of Aerospace Engineering and Physics. It is intended as a reading guide, addressed to students and non-specialists to tackle later with more advanced texts. To make the subject more accessible the book does not follow the usual organization of standard textbooks in this field and is divided in two parts. The first introduces the basic kinetic theory (molecular collisions, mean free path, etc.) of neutral gases in equilibrium in connection to the undergraduate physics courses. The basic properties of ionized gases and plasmas (Debye length, plasma frequencies, etc.) are addressed in relation to their equilibrium states and the collisional processes at the microscopic level. The physical description of short and long-range (Coulomb) collisions and the more relevant collisions (elementary processes) between electrons' ions and neutral atoms or molecules are discussed. The second part introduces the physical description of plasmas as a statistical system of interacting particles introducing advanced concepts of kinetic theory, (non-equilibrium distribution functions, Boltzmann collision operator, etc). The fluid transport equations for plasmas of electron ions and neutral atoms and the hydrodynamic models of interest in space science and plasma technology are derived. The plasma production in the laboratory in the context of the physics of electric breakdown is also discussed. Finally, among the myriad of aerospace applications of plasma physics, the low pressure microwave electron multipactor breakdown and plasma thrusters for space propulsion are presented in two separate chapters.

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

Plasma Science and Engineering transforms fundamental scientific research into powerful societal applications, from materials processing and healthcare to forecasting space weather. Plasma Science: Enabling Technology, Sustainability, Security and Exploration discusses the importance of plasma research, identifies important grand challenges for the next decade, and makes recommendations on funding and workforce. This publication will help federal agencies, policymakers, and academic leadership understand the importance of plasma research and make informed decisions about plasma science funding, workforce, and research directions.

Solar and space physics is the study of solar system phenomena that occur in the plasma state. Examples include sunspots, the solar wind, planetary magnetospheres, radiation belts, and the aurora. While each is a distinct phenomenon, there are commonalities among them. To help define and systematize these universal aspects of the field of space physics, the National Research Council was asked by NASA's Office of Space Science to provide a scientific assessment and strategy for the study of magnetized plasmas in the solar system. This report presents that assessment. It covers a number of important research goals for solar and space physics. The report is complementary to the NRC report, The Sun to the Earthâ€"and Beyond: A Decadal Research Strategy for Solar and Space Physics, which presents priorities and strategies for future program activities.