|
Landau Damping
In physics, Landau damping, named after its discoverer,Landau, L. "On the vibration of the electronic plasma". ''JETP'' 16 (1946), 574. English translation in ''J. Phys. (USSR)'' 10 (1946), 25. Reproduced in Collected papers of L.D. Landau, edited and with an introduction by D. ter Haar, Pergamon Press, 1965, pp. 445–460; and in Men of Physics: L.D. Landau, Vol. 2, Pergamon Press, D. ter Haar, ed. (1965). Soviet Union, Soviet physicist Lev Landau, Lev Davidovich Landau (1908–68), is the effect of Damping ratio, damping (exponential decay, exponential decrease as a function of time) of plasma oscillation, longitudinal space charge waves in Plasma (physics), plasma or a similar environment.Chen, Francis F. ''Introduction to Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion''. Second Ed., 1984 Plenum Press, New York. This phenomenon prevents an instability from developing, and creates a region of stability in the parameter space. It was later argued by Donald Lynden-Bell that a similar phenomeno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nico Van Kampen
Nicolaas 'Nico' Godfried van Kampen (22 June 1921 – 6 October 2013) was a Dutch theoretical physicist, who worked mainly on statistical mechanics and non-equilibrium thermodynamics. Van Kampen was born in Leiden, and was a nephew of Frits Zernike. He studied physics at Leiden University, where in 1952 under the direction of Hendrik Anthony Kramers he earned his PhD with thesis ''Contributions to the quantum theory of light scattering''. He showed in his thesis how to deal with singularities in quantum mechanical scattering processes, an important step in the development of renormalization, according to Kramers. Van Kampen made fundamental contributions to non-equilibrium processes (in particular on the master equation) and in many-body theory (especially in plasma physics). His work on non-equilibrium processes began in 1953 in the research group of Sybren Ruurds de Groot (the successor to Kramers) in Leiden. In 1955 Van Kampen joined the Institute of Theoretical Physics at Utr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which relates to the order of nature, or, in other words, to the regular succession of events." It is one of the most fundamental scientific disciplines. "Physics is one of the most fundamental of the sciences. Scientists of all disciplines use the ideas of physics, including chemists who study the structure of molecules, paleontologists who try to reconstruct how dinosaurs walked, and climatologists who study how human activities affect the atmosphere and oceans. Physics is also the foundation of all engineering and technology. No engineer could design a flat-screen TV, an interplanetary spacecraft, or even a better mousetrap without first understanding the basic laws of physics. (...) You will come to see physics as a towering achievement of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mathematical Treatment
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, theories and theorems that are developed and proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many areas of mathematics, which include number theory (the study of numbers), algebra (the study of formulas and related structures), geometry (the study of shapes and spaces that contain them), analysis (the study of continuous changes), and set theory (presently used as a foundation for all mathematics). Mathematics involves the description and manipulation of abstract objects that consist of either abstractions from nature orin modern mathematicspurely abstract entities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. Mathematics uses pure reason to prove properties of objects, a ''proof'' consisting of a succession of applications of deductive rules to already established results. These results include previously proved theorems, axioms, andin case of abstractio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wave Packet
In physics, a wave packet (also known as a wave train or wave group) is a short burst of localized wave action that travels as a unit, outlined by an Envelope (waves), envelope. A wave packet can be analyzed into, or can be synthesized from, a potentially-infinite set of component sinusoidal waves of different wavenumbers, with phases and amplitudes such that they interfere constructively only over a small region of space, and destructively elsewhere. Any signal of a limited width in time or space requires many frequency components around a center frequency within a Bandwidth (signal processing), bandwidth inversely proportional to that width; even a gaussian function is considered a wave packet because its Fourier transform is a "packet" of waves of frequencies clustered around a central frequency. Each component wave function, and hence the wave packet, are solutions of a wave equation. Depending on the wave equation, the wave packet's profile may remain constant (no #Non-dispe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Generalized Function
In mathematics, generalized functions are objects extending the notion of functions on real or complex numbers. There is more than one recognized theory, for example the theory of distributions. Generalized functions are especially useful for treating discontinuous functions more like smooth functions, and describing discrete physical phenomena such as point charges. They are applied extensively, especially in physics and engineering. Important motivations have been the technical requirements of theories of partial differential equations and group representations. A common feature of some of the approaches is that they build on operator aspects of everyday, numerical functions. The early history is connected with some ideas on operational calculus, and some contemporary developments are closely related to Mikio Sato's algebraic analysis. Some early history In the mathematics of the nineteenth century, aspects of generalized function theory appeared, for example in the def ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fourier Transform
In mathematics, the Fourier transform (FT) is an integral transform that takes a function as input then outputs another function that describes the extent to which various frequencies are present in the original function. The output of the transform is a complex-valued function of frequency. The term ''Fourier transform'' refers to both this complex-valued function and the mathematical operation. When a distinction needs to be made, the output of the operation is sometimes called the frequency domain representation of the original function. The Fourier transform is analogous to decomposing the sound of a musical chord into the intensities of its constituent pitches. Functions that are localized in the time domain have Fourier transforms that are spread out across the frequency domain and vice versa, a phenomenon known as the uncertainty principle. The critical case for this principle is the Gaussian function, of substantial importance in probability theory and statist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wave Number
In the physical sciences, the wavenumber (or wave number), also known as repetency, is the spatial frequency of a wave. Ordinary wavenumber is defined as the number of wave cycles divided by length; it is a physical quantity with dimension of reciprocal length, expressed in SI units of cycles per metre or reciprocal metre (m−1). Angular wavenumber, defined as the wave phase divided by time, is a quantity with dimension of angle per length and SI units of radians per metre. They are analogous to temporal frequency, respectively the '' ordinary frequency'', defined as the number of wave cycles divided by time (in cycles per second or reciprocal seconds), and the ''angular frequency'', defined as the phase angle divided by time (in radians per second). In multidimensional systems, the wavenumber is the magnitude of the ''wave vector''. The space of wave vectors is called ''reciprocal space''. Wave numbers and wave vectors play an essential role in optics and the physics of w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Contour Integration
In the mathematical field of complex analysis, contour integration is a method of evaluating certain integrals along paths in the complex plane. Contour integration is closely related to the Residue theorem, calculus of residues, a method of complex analysis. One use for contour integrals is the evaluation of integrals along the real line that are not readily found by using only real variable methods. It also has various applications in physics. Contour integration methods include: * direct integration of a complex number, complex-valued function along a curve in the complex plane * application of the Cauchy integral formula * application of the residue theorem One method can be used, or a combination of these methods, or various limiting processes, for the purpose of finding these integrals or sums. Curves in the complex plane In complex analysis, a contour is a type of curve in the complex plane. In contour integration, contours provide a precise definition of the curves on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laplace Transform
In mathematics, the Laplace transform, named after Pierre-Simon Laplace (), is an integral transform that converts a Function (mathematics), function of a Real number, real Variable (mathematics), variable (usually t, in the ''time domain'') to a function of a Complex number, complex variable s (in the complex-valued frequency domain, also known as ''s''-domain, or ''s''-plane). The transform is useful for converting derivative, differentiation and integral, integration in the time domain into much easier multiplication and Division (mathematics), division in the Laplace domain (analogous to how logarithms are useful for simplifying multiplication and division into addition and subtraction). This gives the transform many applications in science and engineering, mostly as a tool for solving linear differential equations and dynamical systems by simplifying ordinary differential equations and integral equations into algebraic equation, algebraic polynomial equations, and by simplifyin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vlasov Equation
In plasma physics, the Vlasov equation is a differential equation describing time evolution of the distribution function of collisionless plasma consisting of charged particles with long-range interaction, such as the Coulomb interaction. The equation was first suggested for the description of plasma by Anatoly Vlasov in 1938 and later discussed by him in detail in a monograph. The Vlasov equation, combined with Landau kinetic equation describe collisional plasma. Difficulties of the standard kinetic approach First, Vlasov argues that the standard kinetic approach based on the Boltzmann equation has difficulties when applied to a description of the plasma with long-range Coulomb interaction. He mentions the following problems arising when applying the kinetic theory based on pair collisions to plasma dynamics: # Theory of pair collisions disagrees with the discovery by Rayleigh, Irving Langmuir and Lewi Tonks of natural vibrations in electron plasma. # Theory of pair collisi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phase Space
The phase space of a physical system is the set of all possible physical states of the system when described by a given parameterization. Each possible state corresponds uniquely to a point in the phase space. For mechanical systems, the phase space usually consists of all possible values of the position and momentum parameters. It is the direct product of direct space and reciprocal space. The concept of phase space was developed in the late 19th century by Ludwig Boltzmann, Henri Poincaré, and Josiah Willard Gibbs. Principles In a phase space, every degree of freedom or parameter of the system is represented as an axis of a multidimensional space; a one-dimensional system is called a phase line, while a two-dimensional system is called a phase plane. For every possible state of the system or allowed combination of values of the system's parameters, a point is included in the multidimensional space. The system's evolving state over time traces a path (a phase-spac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
