Fundamentals of Cosmic Electrodynamics

Cosmic electrodynamics is the specific branch of plasma physics which studies electromagnetic phenomena -- mostly the role of electromagnetic forces in dynamics of highly-conducting compressible medium in the solar interior and atmosphere, solar wind, in the Earth's magnetosphere and magnetospheres of other planets as well as pulsars and other astrophysical objects.
This textbook is written to be used at several different levels. It is aimed primarily at beginning graduate students who are assumed to have a knowledge of basic physics. Starting from the language of plasma physics, from Maxwell's equations, the author guides the reader into the more specialized concepts of cosmic electrodynamics.
The main attention in the book is paid to physics rather than maths. However, the clear mathematical image of physical processes in space plasma is presented and spelled out in the surrounding text. There is not another way to work in modern astrophysics at the quantitative level.
The book will also be useful for professional astronomers and for specialists, who investigate cosmic plasmas from space, as well as for everybody who is interested in modern astrophysics.

Inhalt

Preface. Introduction. 1. Charged Particles in the Electromagnetic Field. 2. The Motion of a Charged Particle in Given Fields. 3. Coulomb Collisions of Particles. 4. Statistical Description of a Plasma. 5. Hydrodynamic Description of a Plasma. 6. Magnetohydrodynamics. 7. Plasma Flows in a Strong Magnetic Field. 8. Waves and Discontinuous Flows in a MHD Medium. 9. Evolutionarity of MHD Discontinuities. 10. Plasma Equilibrium in a Magnetic Field. 11. Stationary Plasma Flows in a Magnetic Field. 12. Magnetic Reconnection in Current Sheets. 13. Evolutionarity of Current Sheets. 14. Tearing Instability of the Reconnecting Current Sheet. 15. Selected Trends in Cosmic Electrodynamics. 16. Reconnection of Electric Currents. Appendix 1. Notation. Appendix 2. Useful Expression. Appendix 3. Constants. Bibliography. Index.