Tag - Plasma Physics

Plasma Physics

Courses tagged with "Plasma Physics"

SUPAPPH Plasma Physics

Lecturer: Declan Diver, Bengt Eliasson, Kevin Ronald

Institution: Strathclyde and Glasgow

Hours Equivalent Credit: 12

Assessment: Multiple Choice Exam and Continuous Assessment

Course Summary

This course will address fundamental concepts in plasmas, from plasma creation from a neutral gas through to full ionization. Basic plasma timescales and length scales will be derived, such as the plasma, cyclotron and collision frequencies, skin depth, sheath extent and Larmor radius. Waves and instabilities in fully ionized (and magnetized) fluid and kinetic plasmas will also be addressed. The many natural and man-made types of plasma and their applications will be outlined and in particular magnetically confined plasmas will be discussed with examples, including tokamaks.

Category: Semester 1

Advanced Specialist (hours): 12 hours equiv.

Astronomy and Space Physics: No

Condensed Matter and Materials Physics: No

Energy: No

Nuclear Physics: No

Particle Physics: No

Physics and Life Sciences: No

Physics Education Research: No

Photonics: No

Plasma Physics: Yes

Quantum Sciences: No

Professional Development: No

SUPALDP Laser Driven Plasma Acceleration

1) Introduction to high power lasers. Chirped pulse amplification.
2) Theory of laser plasma interaction: plasma description; linear waves; non-linear effects; parametric interaction; plasma optics.
3) Laser-plasma wakefield accelerators: underdense plasma; ponderomotive force; relativistic effects; laser self-guiding; laser depletion; plasma bubble formation; electron injection and acceleration; electron dephasing.
4) Radiation sources based on laser-plasma accelerators: terahertz single cycle pulses to brilliant gamma ray pulses; plasma as an optical amplifier.
5) High power laser pulse interactions with dense targets: Overview of laser-solid interactions; energy absorption mechanism; ion acceleration; sheath acceleration and radiation pressure acceleration; relativistic transparency; laser-driven shock waves.
6) High field effects: conservation of energy and the radiation reaction force; creation of electron-positron pairs from strong fields and colliding photons; nonlinear corrections to Maxwell’s equations and vacuum birefringence.

Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of topics listed in syllabus and to apply that knowledge to related problems.

Category: Semester 2