Page 17 - swp0000.dvi
P. 17

2. Vector nonlinearities (vortices, etc.)

                       3. Chaotic behavior.




                   1.2       Plasma as the Fourth State of Matter


                       Plasma is a quasineutral gas of charged and neutral particles which

                   exhibits collective behavior. Here, we will define "quasineutral" and "col-

                   lective behavior". Firstly, quasineutral means that, the density of positive

                   ions   approximately equals to the density of electrons  ,   ≈   ≡ 
                   where  is a plasma density, but not all the electromagnetic forces vanish.

                   Now, "collective behavior" means that, the motions depend not only on

                   local conditions but also on plasma state [4, 5]. With few exceptions, dis-
                   crete particle interactions, i.e. collisions, are omitted from these analysis,

                   [6, 7], and collective interactions are assumed to dominate on the time and

                   length scales of interest. In this case, the plasma may be described within

                   the framework of the Vlasov-Maxwell equations [8, 9].



                   1.2.1     Another Definition of Plasma


                         The study of charged particles collected in a sufficient number so
                   that, the long-range Coulomb force is a factor determining their statistical

                   properties [5].




                   1.2.2     Plasma Parameters


                        The charged particles in a plasma rearrange their positions to effec-
                   tively shield electrostatic fields within a small distance characterized by

                                                           2
                   the Debye length  (= (   4 )    12 ) where   and   are the electron
                   temperature, the electronic charge and Boltzmann constant, respectively.




                                                               6
   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22