AA 244A: Fundamentals of Plasmas I 

Course Description

Basic concepts for plasmas, namely, ionized gases, including Debye length, plasma frequency, gyro frequency, Larmor radius, and velocity distribution functions. Fundamental theories including, single-particle motion and drifts of charged particles, plasma fluid equations, electrostatic and electromagnetic waves in plasmas, cutoff and resonance, and diffusion and resistivity. Students who are interested in plasma physics and engineering are encouraged to take AA244A and AA244B.