RESERVE BOOKS: There will be one copy of the textbook by Chen and one copy of the textbook by Gurnett and Bhattacharjee on 4 hr. reserve.
FINAL EXAM (take home): Will be handed out Tuesday in the last week of class and will be due 5 pm Monday, May 5.
Due Jan. 24: HW1_2008.doc
Due Feb. 1: HW2_2008.doc. Some comments:
Comments on Homework 2.doc
Due Feb. 7: HW3_2008.doc {There is a mistake in
the way the first problem is stated. In the E x B drift, E is replaced by E [1+
second order stuff] x B/B2.}
Due Feb. 14: HW4_2008.doc
Due Feb 21: HW5_2008.doc. The damping should be -mvn
in problem 1. Scott R did 1C by letting k2 = (kr + iki)2
= kr2 + 2i kikr - ki2.
And also there is a factor of two mistake in the Faraday rotation: it should be z =
pi/dk. By the way, to change from right hand to left hand polarization, change
the sign of the whole thing (kz-wt). If you just
change just w, the wave is propagating backwards
because w/k has changed signs.
Due Feb 28: HW6_2008.doc This has comments on
homework 4.
Due Mar. 6: HW7_midterm)2008.doc
Midterm solution:
ExamSoln002.pdf
Due Mar. 13: HW8_2008.doc
Due Mar. 20: HW9_2008.doc
Due Apr 3: HW10_2008.doc
Due Apr 10: HW11_2008.doc
Due Apr 17: HW12.doc [This version
is corrected. In the first problem, the denominator of the integral should be
squared.]
Due Apr. 24: HW13_2008.doc
Due May 5: HW14_2008.doc
[Misprint on exam says due Mon. May 6 instead of May 5.]
Regarding Final problem 1, the equations should be rewritten:
D^ = n T /[m (n2 + W2)] = (T /m n)/(1 + W2/ n2) (like Chen 5-51)
and the equation for Gy should have a Gx on the right hand side because the term you thought was second order isn't.
We have finished Chaps. 1,2, and 3. We have skipped 3.6.3 (violations of
invariants), parts of 3.7.3 (Hamiltonians), and 3.8 (chaotic orbits).
Reading: Ch. 4, except that you can skip 4.3.3 (antennas), 4.4.3 oblique
propagation, and 4.4.4 CMA diagrams. We cover 4.5 on ray tracing.
Reading: Kinetic theory: Chapter 5 through 5.4. Waves with pressure: Ch. 5.5.
Next: Simple collisions: Ch. 5.6 and Chen's eqn. 5-52.
Reading: Collisions in more detail: G&B Ch. 11
through 11.2. For break:
Read Ch. 8 through 8.4.
We will skip Chapters 6 on MHD and Ch. 7 on Shocks.
Basic phenomenology: Chaps. 1-3
15 Jan: Syllabus. What is plasma? What do we do?
17 Jan: Cross section, mean free path, Maxwellian distribution, plasma
frequency
22 Jan: Debye length, ND, quasineutrality, B fields
24 Jan: Cyclotron motion, grad B drift
29 Jan: Curvature drift, combined drifts, mirror force, magnetic moment,
31 Jan: Vector potential, Lagrangian, 2nd and 3rd invariants, polarization
drift, computer demonstration of orbits.
Waves, Chapter 4
5 Feb: Polarization drift. Low frequency dielectric constant. Begin EM
waves.
7 Feb: EM wave in plasma. Phase and group velocity. Interferometry.
Ionosonde. Zero order and first order. Begin waves with B.
Handouts: Ionosonde
readout: digisonde.gif; radio signal from pulsar
with plasma dispersion: Science 2
November 2007.doc
Handout: Mach Zehnder
interferogram, page 472 of Plasma Diagnostic Techniques by Huddlestone
and Leonard.
12 Feb: EM waves with B. k perpendicular to B. Plasma as a dielectric. Begin k
parallel to B.
14 Feb: k parallel to B. Circular polarization. Following a ray path (Ch. 4.5).
Cutoffs and resonances. Whistlers.
19 Feb: Faraday rotation briefly (homework problem). Low frequency waves (Alfven
and magnetosonic waves).
Begin
Kinetic theory: Boltzmann and Vlasov equations.
Kinetic theory, Chapter 5
21 Feb: Constancy of f(x,v,t). Define fluid variables. Start method of moments
to get fluid equations.
26 Feb: Exam handed out. Momentum Eqn. Eqn. of state. Convective derivative and
continuity forms of equations.
28 Feb: Example solutions: Continuity Equation - the duct. Momentum Eqn. - the
Boltzmann relation as a static equilibrium.
Start
fluid waves. Fluid drifts. Handouts: Faraday rotation plot and whistler plots.
3 Mar: Electron plasma waves (Langmuir waves). Start ion acoustic
waves.
6 Mar: Electrostatic waves with B and wave vector (kx,0,kz).
Limit of B = 0. Limit of k||B.
11 Mar: Upper hybrid frequency, EIC waves, Begin collisions in fluid eqns. G&B
Ch. 5.6
13 Mar: Discuss midterm.
Mobility, conductivity, diffusion, for B = 0.
Vlasov
treatment of collisions with Krook's collision term
18 Mar: Random walk handout
Ambipolar diffusion, G&B Ch. 5.7; Collisions with B, Hall conductivity, eq.
5.6.12
mperp and Dperp, Chen 5-52.
20 Mar: Small angle collisions. Diffusion in velocity space.
Vlasov theory for waves. Chapter 8.
1 Apr: Vlasov's approach to electrostatic waves. Read Ch. 8.1.
3 Apr: Beam-plasma instabilities. Begin Landau approach to
electrostatic waves.
8 Apr: Laplace transform and Landau damping, derive 8.2.45 and 47.
10 Apr: Movies of Landau damping and two stream instabilities.
15 Apr: W and Z functions, Chap. 8.3. Nyquist,
Penrose, and Gardner, Ch. 8.5. Probe demonstration in lab.
17 Apr: Experimental plasma physics: Plasma devices. Probe theory. Simple gas
discharge physics.
22 Apr: Probe theory.
24 Apr: Electrical breakdown (avalanche breakdown). Ionization cross section.
29 Apr: Quick derivation of MHD equations.
1 May: MHD equilibria, Bessel functions, the RFP and Tokamak. Tokamak buzz words
(q, iota, flux surface, shear, etc.).
