Nuclear fusion, mankind’s ultimate energy source, may become the most important energy source of the new century. But still many important phenomena, e.g. the transport mechanisms that determine the confinement of the plasma, are not yet fully understood. Thus, they are the subject of intense research, which drives a rapid environment of this field of plasma physics and generates the need for an up-to-date textbook for students and reference for researchers in the field.
This state-of-the-art textbook assembles material from various sources in a systematic and concise way for a modern course on the physics of magnetically confined plasmas aimed at graduate and advanced undergraduate students. It both presents the fundamental theories and methodologies of fusion plasma physics and introduces the topics of current research. Each chapter is rounded off with a set of exercises.