6.651/8.613/22.611 Intro to Plasma Physics I
Fall 2013
Instructor: Anne E White
TA: Brandon Nils Sorbom
Lecture:
TR 11-12.30
(NW16-213)
Office Hours (WHITE): R 3-4
(NW17-111)
Office Hours (SORBOM): T 4:30-5:30
(NW16 Library)
Information:
Course
Description:
Introduces plasma phenomena relevant to
energy generation by controlled thermonuclear fusion and to
astrophysics. Elementary plasma concepts, plasma characterization.
Motion of charged particles in magnetic fields. Coulomb collisions,
relaxation times, transport processes. Two-fluid hydrodynamic and
MHD descriptions. Plasma confinement by magnetic fields, simple
equilibrium and stability analysis. Wave propagation in a magnetic
field; application to RF plasma heating. Introduction to kinetic
theory; Vlasov, Boltzmann and Fokker-Planck equations; relation of
fluid and kinetic descriptions. Electron and ion acoustic plasma
waves, Landau damping. We will follow Jeff Freidberg’s book “Plasma Physics and Fusion
Energy”, available at the
coop. In addition, lecture notes will be posted online when
available.
Announcements
Reminder: Final Exam 22.611
Reminder:
The final exam for 22.611 (Intro plasma physics) will take place
tomorrow, Weds Dec 18th, from 9am - 12pm in NW16-213.
Closed book, closed notes, no calculators.
Good luck!
Anne
The final exam for 22.611 (Intro plasma physics) will take place
tomorrow, Weds Dec 18th, from 9am - 12pm in NW16-213.
Closed book, closed notes, no calculators.
Good luck!
Anne
Announced on 17 December 2013 3:16 p.m. by Anne E White
Questions about the final
Hi Everyone,
I have gotten a couple of questions about the final exam from students.
Hope these answers are helpful...
Cheers,
Anne
1) Is MHD toroidal force balance on the exam?
No, only the radial force balance questions would be fair game, as in the HW. We didn't cover toroidal force balance quantitatively.
2 Will the exam be as hard as the midterm?
Yes, it wil be very hard to finish all the questions. Partial credit is given.
3) Are waves and kinetic models on the exam?
Waves are fair game (MHD fluid waves and high frequency waves (cold fluid model)), you have HW covering these.
But you do not need to know how to derive wave dispersion relations using kinetic models.
Landau damping will not be covered quantitatively.
4) Are the intro topics covered heavily on the exam?
The exam is comprehensive. Questions concerning basic plasma definitions and single particle motion are fair game. You should review all the homeworks,
including homework 1 and 2.
I have gotten a couple of questions about the final exam from students.
Hope these answers are helpful...
Cheers,
Anne
1) Is MHD toroidal force balance on the exam?
No, only the radial force balance questions would be fair game, as in the HW. We didn't cover toroidal force balance quantitatively.
2 Will the exam be as hard as the midterm?
Yes, it wil be very hard to finish all the questions. Partial credit is given.
3) Are waves and kinetic models on the exam?
Waves are fair game (MHD fluid waves and high frequency waves (cold fluid model)), you have HW covering these.
But you do not need to know how to derive wave dispersion relations using kinetic models.
Landau damping will not be covered quantitatively.
4) Are the intro topics covered heavily on the exam?
The exam is comprehensive. Questions concerning basic plasma definitions and single particle motion are fair game. You should review all the homeworks,
including homework 1 and 2.
Announced on 12 December 2013 3:27 p.m. by Anne E White
More readings on Landau Damping
Dear Class,
On Thursday Dec 5th we will summarize the mathematical analysis of Landau Damping, which involves
a lot of complex analysis (that we won't have time to go into in detail).
A really nice resource for this is from Richard Fitzpatrick (UT Austin), and we will be following his
notes. They are found online at http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/plasma/Plasmahtml/node85.html
Cheers,
Anne
On Thursday Dec 5th we will summarize the mathematical analysis of Landau Damping, which involves
a lot of complex analysis (that we won't have time to go into in detail).
A really nice resource for this is from Richard Fitzpatrick (UT Austin), and we will be following his
notes. They are found online at http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/plasma/Plasmahtml/node85.html
Cheers,
Anne
Announced on 04 December 2013 11:35 p.m. by Anne E White
Readings for Kinetic Theory/Landau Damping
Dear Class,
The section of interest for Kinetic Theory and Landau Damping in Freidberg is 15.6 (Collisionless damping).
I have also posted on our stellar site photocopies of Chapter 7 from F. Chen's book "Intro. Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion",
which are very helpful readings on kinetic theory and Landau damping.
Tomorrow we will introduce the basic equations of kinetic theory in class.
Cheers,
Anne
The section of interest for Kinetic Theory and Landau Damping in Freidberg is 15.6 (Collisionless damping).
I have also posted on our stellar site photocopies of Chapter 7 from F. Chen's book "Intro. Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion",
which are very helpful readings on kinetic theory and Landau damping.
Tomorrow we will introduce the basic equations of kinetic theory in class.
Cheers,
Anne
Announced on 02 December 2013 1:27 p.m. by Anne E White
Midterm Average and standard deviation
Dear Class,
The class average for the Midterm was 64 out of 100. The standard deviation was 10.
Cheers,
Anne
The class average for the Midterm was 64 out of 100. The standard deviation was 10.
Cheers,
Anne
Announced on 01 November 2013 5:05 p.m. by Anne E White
