Abstract
In the preceding chapters, we have discussed matter at increasing sizes and decreasing symmetry. In biological systems, physics tools have been utilized to help identify the structure and mechanisms employed in the machinery of living organisms. All of the discussion though, was centered on materials that are relatively commonplace terrestrially and have omitted what may be the most common form of matter in the universe: plasma. Because matter densities on the planet are high and the temperatures are not, most matter on the planet exists in the form of electrically neutral gases, liquids and solids. There are, of course, ions intermixed but typically at low densities and they are invariably interacting with solvent molecules.
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Notes
- 1.
James Van Allen and coworkers published “Observation of high intensity radiation by satellites 1952 Alpha and Gamma” in Jet Propulsion in 1958.
- 2.
Alfvén was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1970 “for fundamental work and discoveries in magnetohydro-dynamics with fruitful applications in different parts of plasma physics.” He shared the award with Louis Néel, who was cited “or fundamental work and discoveries concerning antiferromagnetism and ferrimagnetism which have led to important applications in solid state physics.”
- 3.
Jameson published “A demonstration of Alfvén waves” in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics.
- 4.
Biermann published “Kometenschweife und solare Korpuskularstrahlung” in the Zeitschrift für Astrophysik in 1951.
- 5.
Paul Charbonneau published “Dynamo models of the solar cycle” in Living Reviews of Solar Physics in 2009 and Yuhong Fan published “Magnetic fields in the solar convection zone” in the same journal, both in 2009.
- 6.
Fleischmann and Pons published ”Electrochemically induced nuclear fusion of deuterium” in the Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry and Interfacial Electrochemistry.
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© 2018 Mark A. Cunningham
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Cunningham, M.A. (2018). On Plasmas. In: Beyond Classical Physics. Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63160-8_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63160-8_11
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