2019/2020-
Plasma physics and technology (4th/5th year)
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This is an introductory plasma physics course for 4th/5th year students with the following syllabus (short version):
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Single particle motion (drifts)
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Fluid description of the plasma
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Waves in magnetised/unmagnetised plasmas
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Transport and diffusion
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Introduction to kinetic theory
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Landau damping
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The main textbook for this course is Francis Chen, Introduction to Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, Volume 1. I have also tried to incorporate whenever possible the treatments given by John Dawson at UCLA (Physics 222), based on typewritten notes available here.
2016/2017-2019/2020
Advanced plasma physics (4th/5th year)
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This is an advanced plasma physics course for 4th/5th students with the following syllabus (short version):
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Klimontovich equation and its moments
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Linear plasma waves in magnetised and un-magnetised plasmas
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Nonlinear electrostatic electron plasma waves
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Non-linear ion acoustic waves and the KdV equation
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Zakharov equations
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Parametric instabilities
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Introduction to laser-plasma interactions
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Backward and forward Raman scattering
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The main textbook for this course is Nicholson, Introduction to Plasma Theory. The laser plasma interaction component of the course was inspired by classes given by Warren Mori at UCLA.
Numerical simulations in plasma physics courses
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I have incorporated a computational component in these courses that allows students to go beyond standard text book approaches. The simulation tool that I use is ZPIC, developed at GoLP by Ricardo Fonseca, which is part of an educational toolkit for plasma physics education. We have a dedicated server to perform simulations without having to install anything on the computer. Please feel free to drop me an email if you want to know more about this project.