1st Training Week (Bordeaux)

The first training week “Plasma Physics – Theory and Experiments” Intensive program on the basics of plasma physics took place at the University of Bordeaux in Bordeaux (FR) during 22-26 of January 2018.

Number of Participating Students per Organization

Technological Educational Institute of Crete 3
Panepistimio Ioanninon 3
University of York 3
The Queen’s University of Belfast 3
Universite de Bordeaux 3
Ecole Polytechnique 3
Universidad de Salamanca 3
Ceske Vysoke Uceni Technicke V Praze 3

Training Program  (Timetable)

Lectures

Lecture 0: Introduction to laser safety (E. Abraham)

Lecture 1: Introduction and classification of plasmas (E. d’Humières)

  • Main plasma parameters (Debye length, ion/electron plasma frequency, ion/electron Larmor radius, ion/electron cyclotron frequency, ion/electron mean free path, collision frequency, Landau length…)
  • Classification of plasmas (Temperature/density diagram, classical/strongly coupled/degenerate/relativistic plasmas)
  • Examples of plasmas (natural plasmas, hot plasmas, cold and industrial plasmas)

Lecture 2: Movement of charged particles in electric and magnetic fields (J.J. Santos)

  • Drifts in a uniform magnetic field, crossed electric and magnetic fields
  • Magnetic field gradient drift and magnetic mirroring (conservation of the magnetic moment)
  • High frequency electric field, ponderomotive force

Lecture 3: Hydrodynamic (bi-fluid) description of a plasma (J.J. Santos)

  • Equations for the mono- and bi-fluid model (continuity+Euler+EOS+Maxwell)
  • Dispersion of electromagnetic waves and the critical density
  • Dispersion of electron-plasma waves and of ion-acoustic waves
  • Shock waves and relations Rankine-Hugoniot, blast waves, solution by Sedov-Taylor
    + Applications in high energy-density plasmas

Lecture 4: Kinetic description of waves and instabilities in plasmas (E. d’Humières)

  • Velocity distribution function and mean quantities
  • Landau damping of electron plasma waves
  • Beam-plasma instabilities
  • Parametric instabilities
    + laser-plasma interaction in Shock ignition

Lecture 5: Radiative properties of plasmas (D. Batani)

  • Radiation emission from plasmas (bound-bound, recombination, bremsstrahulng, with some remarks on H-like and He-like spectra)
  • Line broadening mechanisms
  • Equilibrium in a plasma (Maxwell, Boltzmann, Saha)
  • Photon absorption and opacity (in particular collisional absorption)
  • Equation of radiative transfer and blackbody limit
    + Hohlraum energetics

Laboratory courses: four groups of 5-6 students: 4h experiment + 2x3h numerical training

  • Laboratory session: “Laser discharge at the surface of a solid target and propagation of a deflagration wave in air”, J.J. Santos, M. Ehret
  • Numerical session: “Two stream instability and plasma expansion in vacuum exercises with the SMILEI code”, E. d’Humières, Q. Moreno
  • Numerical session: “Plasma radiation calculations with FLYCHECK”, D. Batani, J. Trela