Introduction to controlled thermonuclear fusion: Basic nuclear reactions, effective cross-section, and power produced. Energy balance and Lawsons criterion.
Plasma definition: Ionization, macroscopic charge neutrality, shielding, Debye length, oscillations, and plasma frequency. Properties of ideal plasmas. Methodological approaches to studying plasma.
Charged particle motion in electromagnetic fields: Homogeneous magnetic field, cyclotronic frequency, Larmor radius, magnetic moment. Homogeneous static electric and magnetic fields, the ExB drift. Weakly inhomogeneous magnetic field, gradient, and curvature drifts. Magnetic mirrors. Time-varying fields and polarization drift. Magnetic confinement of particles in toroidal devices.
Collisions: Coulomb collisions, Rutherford scattering, energy and momentum transfer through collisions, collision frequencies.
Plasma as a multiple fluid: Material derivative, Lagrange derivative, conservation of mass and momentum, Reynolds transport theorem. Kinetic pressure and energy conservation. Ideal fluid equations, plasma resistance.
Plasma as a single fluid (Magnetohydrodynamics): Single fluid equations, ideal and resistive magnetohydrodynamics. Magnetic flux, magnetic viscosity, Reynolds number, magnetic pressure, Virial theorem.
Magnetohydrodynamic Equilibrium: Equilibrium equations, theta pinch, straight-line screw pinch, axisymmetric toroidal magnetic configuration.
Stability analysis: Linear analysis and normal modes, energy method, Rayleigh-Taylor instability, waves in ideal magnetohydrodynamics.
- Teacher: Ιωάννης Κομίνης
ECTS : 5
Language : el