Athens programme
The ATHENS programme is aimed at carrying out intensive specialization courses, enabling students to attend one of the courses offered by the university network during 7 days.
The courses take place twice a year, in the sessions of March and November. Applications are made directly at the ATHENS website.
Check the Athens courses offered at IST
Objectives
This introductory course to Plasma Physics and Technology deals with the basic properties of weakly and fully ionized plasmas, and with the basic concepts and mathematical tools needed to understand such media. The notions acquired provide the necessary background for further studies in the fields of gaseous electronics, fusion plasmas, space plasmas or lasers and laser-plasma interactions.
The course includes
theoretical lectures, problem solving classes, as well as laboratory and
numerical simulation workshops.
Programme
- Plasma
definition and its occurrence in Nature.
- Collective
effects: Debye shielding and plasma frequency.
- Applications:
magnetic and inertial confinement nuclear fusion, surface and materials
processing, gaseous electronics, plasma technologies, reentry plasmas.
- Motion
of charged particles in E and B fields.
- Fluid
description. Fluid drifts. Langmuir and electromagnetic waves.
- Introduction to kinetic theory: Vlasov and Boltzmann equations.
Prerequisites
Physics, mathematics or engineering degree students; the students should have collected at least 36 ECTS on math and physics courses.Teaching staff
Vasco Guerra (responsible)Recommended bibliography
- Introduction to Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion,Vol. 1
Francis F. Chen
Plenum Press
1984 - Introduction to plasma theory
Dwight R. Nicholson
John Wiley & Sons
1983 - Introduction to plasma physics - lecture notes
Ian Hutchinson
MIT openware: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/nuclear-engineering/22-611j-introduction-to-plasma-physics-i-fall-2003/lecture-notes/
2003
Support material
Lecture 1: fundamental effects
Applications of plasmas I: nuclear fusion
Applications of plasmas II: plasma based technologies
Applications of plasmas III: atmospheric entry plasmas
Lecture 2: single particle motion #1
Lecture 4: introduction to the kinetic theory of gases
Workshop: hands on a Boltzmann solver
Workshop: electric probes
March 2015 timetable
Monday
Morning:
9:30. Plasmas in Nature. The fundamental effects (Debye shielding, plasma parameter, plasma frequency, ionization degree)
[3h V. Guerra]
Afternoon:
14:00. Applications of plasmas I: nuclear fusion (magnetic and inertial confinement)
[1h Carlos Silva + Marta Fajardo]
15:00. Applications of plasmas II: plasma based technologies
[1h Luís L. Alves]
16:00. Applications of plasmas III: atmospheric reentries
[1h Mário Lino da Silva]
Tuesday
Morning:
9:30. Single particle motion in E and B fields: drifts and magnetic mirrors
[3h N. Pinhão]
Afternoon:
14:00. e-lab: Langmuir probes (getting data)
[3h Horácio Fernandes, Carlos Silva, João Fortunato]
Wednesday
Morning:
9:30 (room P3). Fluid equations, fluid drifts, Langmuir and electromagnetic waves
[3h Nuno Loureiro]
Afternoon:
14:00. e-lab: Langmuir probes (data analysis)
[3h Horácio Fernandes, Carlos Silva, João Fortunato]
Thursday
Morning:
9:00. Workshop "Hands on a Boltzmann solver"
[3h Luís L. Alves]
Afternoon:
14:00 (room E1). Introduction to kinetic theory: Boltzmann and Vlasov equations.
[3h Vasco Guerra]
Friday
Morning:
Preparation to the exam / discussion with the teachers
Afternoon:
14:30. Exam, room E2