Collisionless Plasmas in Astrophysics

Collisionless Plasmas in Astrophysics examines the unique properties of media without collisions in plasma physics. Experts in this field, the authors present the first book to concentrate on collisionless conditions in plasmas, whether close or not to thermal equilibrium. Filling a void in scientific literature, Collisionless Plasmas in Astrophysics explains the possibilities of modeling such plasmas, using a fluid or a kinetic framework. It also addresses common misconceptions that even professionals may possess, on phenomena such as "collisionless (Landau) damping". Abundant illustration.

Collisionless Plasmas in Astrophysics; Contents; About the Authors; 1 Introduction; 1.1 Goals of the Book; 1.2 Plasmas in Astrophysics; 1.2.1 Plasmas Are Ubiquitous; 1.2.2 The Magnetosphere of Stars; 1.2.3 Shock Waves; 1.2.4 Planetary Magnetospheres; 1.3 Upstream of Plasma Physics: Electromagnetic Fields and Waves; 1.3.1 Electromagnetic Fields; 1.3.2 Transverse and Longitudinal Electromagnetic Field; 1.3.3 Electromagnetic Fields in Vacuum; 1.3.4 Plane Waves in a Plasma; 1.3.5 Electromagnetic Components of Plane Plasma Waves.

1.3.6 Some General Properties of Plane Wave Polarization and Dispersion1.3.7 Electrostatic Waves; 1.3.8 Wave Packets and Group Velocity; 1.3.9 Propagation of Plane Waves in a Weakly Inhomogeneous Medium; 1.3.10 Useful Approximations of the Maxwell Equations in Plasma Physics; 1.4 Upstream of Plasma Physics: The Motion of Charged Particles; 1.4.1 The Motion of the Guiding Center; 1.4.2 Adiabatic Invariants; 1.4.3 The Motion of a Particle in a Wave; 2 Plasma Descriptions and Plasma Models; 2.1 Distribution Function and Moments; 2.1.1 From Individual Particles to Kinetic Description.

2.1.2 Kinetic Description and First Order Moments2.1.3 Higher-Order Moments; 2…