Clusters as systems of bound atoms or molecules are an intermediate form of matter between atomic and bulk particles. The object of our consideration is large clusters, small particles and systems consisting of them. The main part of the book consists of more than 200 problems, each illustrating a specific aspect of clusters or their behavior in gases and plasmas.

Autorentext

R. Stephen Berry is James Franck Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the Chemistry Department at The University of Chicago. He has studied phase changes and phase equilibria for twenty years. He is a MacArthur Fellow and a Member of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A., and has been author or coauthor of five books prior to this. He and his coauthor of this book have known each other for over 40 years, from the time both were working on atomic collision processes. They have been collaborating for about 10 years, in their studies of clusters and of phase transitions. Boris M. Smirnov is a distinguished physicist who worked for many years at the Institute for Ball Lightning, prior to his joining the Institute for High Temperatures in Moscow.

Inhalt
1 Behavior of Small Particles in Gases and Plasmasy.- 1.1 Collisional Processes Involving Clusters.- 1.2 Motion of Small Particles in Gases.- 1.3 Charging of Small Particles in Plasma.- 1.4 Chemical Processes Involving Clusters and Small Particles.- 2 Interaction of Small Particles with Electric and Electromagnetic Fields.- 2.1 Electric Properties of Small Particles.- 2.2 Ionization Equilibrium in Plasma Involving Small Particles and Clusters.- 2.3 Clusters and Small Particles in Radiative Processes.- 3 Bulk Systems of Bound Atoms with Pair Interaction.- 3.1 Condensed Systems of Atoms with Pair Interaction.- 3.2 Regular Crystalline Particles of Fcc-structure.- 4 Clusters with Pair Interaction of Atoms.- 4.1 Regular Clusters of Close Packed Structures.- 4.2 Icosahedral Structure of Clusters.- 4.3 Competition of Cluster Structures.- 5 Processes and Kinetics of Cluster Growth and Decay.- 5.1 Processes of Growth and Evaporation of Clusters in Parent Gas.- 5.2 Kinetics of Cluster Evolution in Parent Gas.- 5.3 Processes of Association of Two Small Particles.- 5.4 Kinetics of Association of Small Particles.- 5.5 Growth Processes in Gases Involving Fractal Systems.- 6 Clusters at Nonzero Temperature.- 6.1 Excited Clusters.- 6.2 Transitions from Clusters to Bulk Particles.- 6.3 Phase Transitions in Bulk and Clusters.- 7 Plasma with Small Particles or Clusters.- 7.1 Small Particles in Gas Discharge Plasma.- 7.2 Aerosol Plasma.- 7.3 Structures of Small Particles in Dusty Plasma.- 7.4 Charged Clusters in Arc Plasma.- Conclusion.- A Physical Parameters and Data.- A.1 Physical Constants and Relations.- A.2 Atomic Parameters.- A.3 Gaseous Values.- A.4 Parameters of Condensed Systems.- B Mechanical and Electrical Parameters of Particles Ellipsoidal and Close Forms.- B.1 The Effective Hydrodynamic Radius.- B.3 Polarizability.- C.- C.1 Models of Clusters and Small Particles.- References.