A coordinate-free expression of plasma theory

TL;DR

This paper develops a coordinate-free, geometric approach to plasma theory using exterior calculus, simplifying algebra and providing new generalized formulas for kinetic equations and reaction rates.

Contribution

It introduces a coordinate-free geometric framework for plasma physics, deriving generalized kinetic equations and reaction rate formulas with broad applicability.

Findings

Derived generalized forms of key kinetic equations.

Presented a new generalized formula for the Variational Theory of Reaction Rates.

Applied the theory to three-body recombination in magnetic fields.

Abstract

The theory of plasmas, that is collectives of charged particles, is developed using the coordinate-free and geometric methods of exterior calculus. This dramatically simplifies the algebra and gives a geometric physical interpretation. The fundamental foundation on which the theory is built is the conservation of phase space volume expressed by the Generalized Liouville Equation in terms of the Lie derivative. The theory is expanded both in the order of the correlation and in the weakness of the correlation. This gives a Generalized BBGKY (Bogoliubov-Born-Green-Kirkwood-Yvon) Hierarchy. The derivation continues to give a new generalized formula for the Variational Theory of Reaction Rates (VTRR). Pullbacks of the generalized formulas to generic canonical coordinates and Poisson brackets are done. Where appropriate, the canonical coordinates are assumed to be "action-angle" coordinates that are generated by the solution to the Hamilton-Jacobi equation, the action. Finally, generalized forms of all the common kinetic equations are derived: the Vlasov Equation, the Boltzmann Equation, the Master Equation, the Fokker-Planck Equation, the Vlasov-Fokker-Planck (VFP) Equation, the Fluid Equations, and the MagnetoHydroDynamic (MHD) Equations. Specific examples are given of these equations. The application of the VTRR to three-body recombination in a strong magnetic field is shown.