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  • © 2014

Microphysics of Cosmic Plasmas

  • Presents a comprehensive and up-to-date review of physical processes in space and astrophysical plasmas, from the near-Earth space to the most distant parts of the Universe
  • Broadly discusses topics in plasma astrophysics, from magneto hydrodynamics to plasma instabilities, turbulence and non-classical transport processes
  • Written by a rare and unique collection of authors, whose specialties cover the complete range of disciplines in the topics discussed, from space physics to astrophysics

Part of the book series: Space Sciences Series of ISSI (SSSI, volume 47)

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Table of contents (22 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-vi
  2. Microphysics of Cosmic Plasmas: Background, Motivation and Objectives

    • André Balogh, Andrei Bykov, Peter Cargill, Richard Dendy, Thierry Dudok de Wit, John Raymond
    Pages 1-4
  3. Microphysics in Astrophysical Plasmas

    • Steven J. Schwartz, Ellen G. Zweibel, Martin Goldman
    Pages 5-23
  4. Solar Wind Turbulence and the Role of Ion Instabilities

    • O. Alexandrova, C. H. K. Chen, L. Sorriso-Valvo, T. S. Horbury, S. D. Bale
    Pages 25-63
  5. Solar Surface and Atmospheric Dynamics

    • V. Martínez Pillet
    Pages 65-86
  6. Astrophysical Hydromagnetic Turbulence

    • A. Brandenburg, A. Lazarian
    Pages 87-124
  7. Microphysics of Cosmic Ray Driven Plasma Instabilities

    • A. M. Bykov, A. Brandenburg, M. A. Malkov, S. M. Osipov
    Pages 125-156
  8. Nonclassical Transport and Particle-Field Coupling: from Laboratory Plasmas to the Solar Wind

    • D. Perrone, R. O. Dendy, I. Furno, R. Sanchez, G. Zimbardo, A. Bovet et al.
    Pages 157-194
  9. Collisional and Radiative Processes in Optically Thin Plasmas

    • Stephen J. Bradshaw, John Raymond
    Pages 195-230
  10. Recent Evolution in the Theory of Magnetic Reconnection and Its Connection with Turbulence

    • Homa Karimabadi, Vadim Roytershteyn, William Daughton, Yi-Hsin Liu
    Pages 231-247
  11. Notes on Magnetohydrodynamics of Magnetic Reconnection in Turbulent Media

    • Philippa Browning, Alex Lazarian
    Pages 249-279
  12. Microphysics of Cosmic Plasmas: Hierarchies of Plasma Instabilities from MHD to Kinetic

    • M. R. Brown, P. K. Browning, M. E. Dieckmann, I. Furno, T. P. Intrator
    Pages 281-307
  13. In-Situ Observations of Reconnection in Space

    • Götz Paschmann, Marit Øieroset, Tai Phan
    Pages 309-341
  14. Kinetic Structure of Current Sheets in the Earth Magnetotail

    • Anton Artemyev, Lev Zelenyi
    Pages 343-364
  15. Topics in Microphysics of Relativistic Plasmas

    • Maxim Lyutikov, A. Lazarian
    Pages 383-405
  16. Plasma Diagnostics of the Interstellar Medium with Radio Astronomy

    • Marijke Haverkorn, Steven R. Spangler
    Pages 407-435
  17. The Dynamic Quasiperpendicular Shock: Cluster Discoveries

    • V. Krasnoselskikh, M. Balikhin, S. N. Walker, S. Schwartz, D. Sundkvist, V. Lobzin et al.
    Pages 459-522
  18. Collisionless Shocks in Partly Ionized Plasma with Cosmic Rays: Microphysics of Non-thermal Components

    • A. M. Bykov, M. A. Malkov, J. C. Raymond, A. M. Krassilchtchikov, A. E. Vladimirov
    Pages 523-556

About this book

Presents a comprehensive review of physical processes in astrophysical plasmas.
This title presents a review of the detailed aspects of the physical processes that underlie the observed properties, structures and dynamics of cosmic plasmas. An assessment of the status of understanding of microscale processes in all astrophysical collisionless plasmas is provided. The topics discussed include turbulence in astrophysical and solar system plasmas as a phenomenological description of their dynamic properties on all scales; observational, theoretical and modelling aspects of collisionless magnetic reconnection; the formation and dynamics of shock waves; and a review and assessment of microprocesses, such as the hierarchy of plasma instabilities, non-local and non-diffusive transport processes and ionisation and radiation processes. In addition, some of the lessons that have been learned from the extensive existing knowledge of laboratory plasmas as applied to astrophysical problems are also covered. This volume is aimed at graduate students and researchers active in the areas of cosmic plasmas and space science. Originally published in Space Science Reviews journal, Vol. 278/2-4, 2013.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Imperial College London, London, UK

    André Balogh, Peter Cargill

  • Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Andrei Bykov

  • Euratom/UKAEA Fusion Association, Abingdon, UK

    Richard Dendy

  • LPC2E/CNRS-University of Orleans, Orleans Cedex 2, France

    Thierry Dudok de Wit

  • Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, USA

    John Raymond

About the editors

André Balogh is Emeritus Professor of Space Physics in Imperial College London and a past Director of the International Space Science Institute, Bern, Switzerland. He has participated in numerous scientific space missions since the mid‐1960s and has been a Principal Investigator on the Ulysses and Cluster missions. His principal research interest is the observation and study of magnetic fields in the heliosphere and in planetary environments. He is author and co‐author of over 450 scientific publications and editor of seven books on solar system topics.

Prof. Andrei Bykov is head of the High Energy Astrophysics laboratory at the Ioffe Institute of Physics and Technology at the Russian Academy of Sciences and professor of St. Petersburg State Politechnical University. His principal research interests are theory and observations of processes in astrophysical objects with extreme energy release ‐ supernovae, gamma‐ray bursts and clusters of galaxies. He is author and coauthor of over 200 scientific publications, including the book ‘Turbulence, Current Sheets and Shocks in Cosmic Plasma’ and editor of four books on high energy astrophysics.

Prof. Peter Cargill is an Emeritus Professor of Physics and an Imperial College and Honorary Professor of the Mathematical Institute at the University of St. Andrews. He is also part of the Space and Atmospheric Physics Group and the Blackett Laboratory.

Prof. Richard Dendy is the Director (jointly with Prof. S. C. Chapman) of Warwick University’s Centre for Fusion, Space and Astrophysics, and the Head of Theoretical Plasma Physics at Euratom/UKAEA Fusion Association’s Culham Science Centre. He is a commissioner of the Marshall Scholarships program and an Honorary Professor of Physics at Kyushu University in Japan. Prof. Dendy is also Vice-Chair of the Plasma Physics Division of the European Physical Society and the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Plasma Physics and ControlledFusion.

Prof. Thierry Dudok de Wit is a professor at the Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l’Environnement et de l’Espace, at the University of Orléans in France.

Prof. John Raymond is an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access