Plasma 2009-04-05 07:27:30 2009-04-05 08:02:22 Definition state of matter plasma physics ionized gases gas ions electrons emf electron-ion coupling in plasma sun % almost certainly you want these \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath, amssymb, amsfonts, amsthm, amscd, latexsym, enumerate} \usepackage{xypic, xspace} \usepackage[mathscr]{eucal} \usepackage[dvips]{graphicx} \usepackage[curve]{xy} \theoremstyle{plain} \newtheorem{lemma}{Lemma}[section] \newtheorem{proposition}{Proposition}[section] \newtheorem{theorem}{Theorem}[section] \newtheorem{corollary}{Corollary}[section] \theoremstyle{definition} \newtheorem{definition}{Definition}[section] \newtheorem{example}{Example}[section] %\theoremstyle{remark} \newtheorem{remark}{Remark}[section] \newtheorem*{notation}{Notation} \newtheorem*{claim}{Claim} \renewcommand{\thefootnote}{\ensuremath{\fnsymbol{footnote}}} \numberwithin{equation}{section} \newcommand{\Ad}{{\rm Ad}} 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\def\baselinestretch{1.1} \hyphenation{prod-ucts} %\grpeometry{textwidth= 16 cm, textheight=21 cm} \newcommand{\sqdiagram}[9]{$$ \diagram #1 \rto^{#2} \dto_{#4}& #3 \dto^{#5} \\ #6 \rto_{#7} & #8 \enddiagram \eqno{\mbox{#9}}$$ } \def\C{C^{\ast}} \newcommand{\labto}[1]{\stackrel{#1}{\longrightarrow}} %\newenvironment{proof}{\noindent {\bf Proof} }{ \hfill $\Box$ %{\mbox{}} \newcommand{\quadr}[4] {\begin{pmatrix} & #1& \\[-1.1ex] #2 & & #3\\[-1.1ex]& #4& \end{pmatrix}} \def\D{\mathsf{D}} \begin{definition} \emph{Plasma} is often defined as the fourth state of matter (beyond the `usual' solid, liquid and gas phases) consisting of a mixture of ionized gas (or gases) with quasi-free electrons that, however, interact with each other and the ions in plasma, as well as the electromagnetic and gravitational fields present in the plasma. \end{definition} Ominuous examples of plasma are our sun, all the visible stars, `neon' or mercury, fluorescent lights, plasma TV's and monitors, lightning and any other plasma formed during electrical discharges. Plasmas are estimated to constitute more than 99 percent of the visible universe, but it may not be present in dark matter so called because it is invisible to our instruments except for its gravitational effects. Moreover, dark matter accounts for a very substantial part of our universe. Plasma studies may eventually lead to controlled thermonuclear fusion as an almost inexhaustible source of energy. The international ITER experiment anticipates successful breakeven in energy generation from nuclear fusion in a ionized hydrogen plasma at about 200 million degrees Kelvin by the year 2030, which is supposed to happen either in France or Japan where ITER projects are cetralized and currently under development with an investment on the order of twelve billion US dollars (indeed: \$12,000,000,000 !). This may appear as a rather high price at $60 per degree Kelvin of plasma heating, but in view of its potential to satisfy all projected mankind's energy needs for at least the next 100,000 years, this price would seem to be quite small if ITER were to be successful as claimed. A Japanese claim was published in 2008 that a high-power plasma heating device made in Japan is capable of GW delivery in plasmas, that it has already been tested, and that is available to the ITER projects in France and Japan at a cost of approximately \$2,000,000 each for 100 MW installations, with ITER expected to require at least 20 such high-power plasma heating devices. Note that in medicine and biomedical research the term ``plasma'' is used with a completely different meaning as the fluid solution in which blood cells are suspended in containing mostly water, disolved salt ions, lipoproteins, enzymes, antibodies, and so on; often the term is also employed in the medical field for an artificial replacement of the entire (`biological') plasma that may contain only water and certain disolved salt ions close to neutral pH.