PH-713 Plasma Physics-II

1. Basic concepts of inertial and magnetic confinement fusion schemes, fusion reactor physics, thermonuclear fusion reaction criteria and driver requirements, scenario for ICF, fusion fuel burn physics.
2. The physics of hydrodynamic compression, plasma hydrodynamic, shock wave propagation in plasmas, isentropic compression, hydrodynamic stability of the implosion process, equation of state models, and ablation driven compression.
3. Energy transport in ICF plasmas, electron thermal conduction, thermal conduction inhibition, spontaneous magnetic field generation, suprathermal electron transport, radiation transport models.
4. Nonlinear mechanisms in plasmas, solitary waves and solitons, ion-acoustic solitary wave, the Korteweg-de-Vries (KdV) equation, ion-acoustic and Alfven wave solitons, Nonlinear Schrodinger equation, Nonlinear Landau damping, Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal (BGK) modes, and introduction to dusty plasmas with applications.

Recommended text books:

• Inertial Confinement Fusion, by J. J. Duderstadt and G. A. Moses, publisher: John Wiley & Sons, New York; 1st edition, (1982).
• Plasma Waves, by D. G. Swanson, publisher: IoP, Bristol and Philadelphia; 2nd edition, (2003).
• Introduction to Dusty Plasma Physics, by P. K. Shukla and A. A. Mamun, publisher:  IoP, Bristol and Philadelphia; 1st edition, (2002).