A Short Introduction to Plasma Physics

TL;DR

This chapter provides an overview of fundamental plasma phenomena, including key properties, simple models, and wave behaviors in plasma, aimed at introducing essential concepts in plasma physics.

Contribution

It offers a concise introduction to plasma properties, models, and wave phenomena, serving as an accessible entry point for learners and researchers new to plasma physics.

Findings

Key plasma properties like quasi-neutrality and shielding explained

Basic plasma models including collective phenomena and fluid dynamics described

Wave phenomena in cold plasma discussed

Abstract

This chapter contains a short discussion of some fundamental plasma phenomena. In section 2 we introduce key plasma properties like quasi-neutrality, shielding, particle transport processes and sheath formation. In section 3 we describe the simplest plasma models: collective phenomena (drifts) deduced from single-particle trajectories and fundamentals of plasma fluid dynamics. The last section discusses wave phenomena in homogeneous, unbounded, cold plasma.