Polarization Spectroscopy of Ionized Gases describes the physical principles of the technique and its applications to remote sensing. Transport phenomena and local anisotropies can be studied. The theoretical part of the book considers the basic phenomena of the ordering of the velocities of fast exciting charged particles. The polarization of the outer electron shells of excited atoms or molecules is described, and a variety of effects are examined in detail. An integral equation is derived which gives the intensity and polarization of emitted lines. Methods for solving the equation are analyzed. Universal spectropolarimetric remote sensing has been applied to low pressure gas discharges in the laboratory and to non-thermal processes in the solar atmosphere. For researchers interested in the remote sensing of ionized gases.

Keeping abreast of the latest techniques and applications, this new edition of the standard reference and graduate text on laser spectroscopy has been completely revised and expanded. While the general concept is unchanged, the new edition features a broad array of new material, e.g., frequency doubling in external cavities, reliable cw-parametric oscillators, tunable narrow-band UV sources, more sensitive detection techniques, tunable femtosecond and sub-femtosecond lasers (X-ray region and the attosecond range), control of atomic and molecular excitations, frequency combs able to synchronize independent femtosecond lasers, coherent matter waves, and still more applications in chemical analysis, medical diagnostics, and engineering.

A uniquely practical book, this monograph is the first to describe basic and applied spectroscopic techniques for the study of physical processes in high frequency, electrodeless discharge lamps. Special attention is given to the construction and optimization of these lamps, a popular source of line spectra and an important tool in ultraprecise optical engineering. Highlights include discussions of: high precision measurements of gas pressures spectral source lifespan and more.

The physical formation mechanisms of optogalvanic effects in ionized gases are considered in this comprehensive monograph, as well as the effects themselves, and their diverse applications. The work explores the influence of irradiating light on the impedance of plasma discharges: glow discharges, discharges with hollow cathodes, and thermoionic diodes. Optogalvanic effects in flames and rarefied gas are also analyzed and optical schemes to study a number of phenomena which register optogalvanic signals are presented. The applications of the optogalvanic effect which are discussed include spectrochemical analysis techniques, high-precision laser frequency stabilization, plasma diagnostics, and isotope separation. Over the past 25 years the importance of low temperature discharges and gases in materials processing has been recognized, and this monograph will be an invaluable source of reference for research specialists in this area.

Contains papers based on 30 talks presented at the Tenth American Physical Society Topical Conference on Atomic Processes in Plasmas, held in San Francisco in January 1996. The volume begins with a section on atomic physics in tokamak plasmas, followed by sections covering atomic physics in astrophy

This textbook is intended as an introduction to the physics of solar and stellar coronae, emphasizing kinetic plasma processes. It is addressed to observational astronomers, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates without a ba- ground in plasma physics. Coronal physics is today a vast field with many different aims and goals. So- ing out the really important aspects of an observed phenomenon and using the physics best suited for the case is a formidable problem. There are already several excellent books, oriented toward the interests of astrophysicists, that deal with the magnetohydrodynamics of stellar atmospheres, radiation transport, and radiation theory. In kinetic processes, the different particle velocities play an important role. This is the case when particle collisions can be neglected, for example in very brief phenomena – such as one period of a high-frequency wave – or in effects produced by energetic particles with very long collision times. Some of the most persistent problems of solar physics, like coronal heating, shock waves, flare energy release, and particle acceleration, are likely to be at least partially related to such p- cesses. Study of the Sun is not regarded here as an end in itself, but as the source of information for more general stellar applications. Our understanding of stellar processes relies heavily, in turn, on our understanding of solar processes. Thus an introduction to what is happening in hot, dilute coronae necessarily starts with the plasma physics of our nearest star.

The multielement systems have been widely used in many fields of astron omy and radio science in the last decades. This is caused by the increasing demands on the resolution and sensitivity of such systems over the wide range of the electromagnetic wavelengths, from gamma up to radio. The ground-based optical and radio interferometers, gamma-ray and X-ray or bital telescopes, antenna arrays of radio telescopes and also some other radio devices belong to scientific instruments using multielement systems. There fore, the current problems of the optimal construction of such systems, or precisely, those of searching for the best arrangement of the elements in them, were formulated. A rather large number of scientific papers, including those of the authors, is devoted to these problems, and we believe that the time has come to integrate the basic results of the papers into the mono graph. The offered book consists of three parts. The first part is concerned with the optimal synthesis of optical and radio interferometers of various types and purposes; the synthesis of non-equidistant antenna arrays is con sidered in the second part; and the methods for the construction of coded masks for X-ray and gamma-ray orbital telescopes are expounded in the third one. Since in the text combinatorial constructions which are little known to astronomers are used, the necessary information is given in the appendices. Various tables containing the parameters of the systems consid ered are also represented.

Proceedings of the second Hellenic Cosmology Meeting, held in the National Observatory of Athens (Penteli, 19-20 April 2001)