First Course in Magnetohydrodynamics

By (author) David Alan Clarke

ISBN13: 9781009381475

Imprint: Cambridge University Press

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Format: Hardback

Published: 31/01/2025

Availability: Not yet available

Description
This text introduces readers to magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), the physics of ionised fluids. Traditionally MHD is taught as part of a graduate curriculum in plasma physics. By contrast, this text-one of a very few-teaches MHD exclusively from a fluid dynamics perspective, making it uniquely accessible to senior undergraduate students. Part I of the text uses the MHD Riemann problem as a focus to introduce the fundamentals of MHD: Alfvén's theorem; waves; shocks; rarefaction fans; etc. Part II builds upon this with presentations of broader areas of MHD: fluid instabilities; viscid hydrodynamics; steady-state MHD; and non-ideal MHD. Throughout the text, more than 125 problems and several projects (with solutions available to instructors) reinforce the main ideas. Optionally, large-font lesson plans for a 'flipped-style' class are also available to instructors. This book is suitable for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students, requiring no previous knowledge of fluid dynamics or plasma physics.
Preface; Introduction; Part I. 1-D MHD in Ten Weeks: 1. The fundamentals of Hydrodynamics; 2. Selected applications of Hydrodynamics; 3. The Hydrodynamical Riemann problem; 4. The fundamentals of Magnetohydrodynamics; 5. MHD waves and discontinuities. 6. The MHD Riemann problem; Part II. Additional Topics in (M)HD: 7. Fluid instabilities; 8. Viscid Hydrodynamics; 9. Steady-state MHD; 10. Non-ideal MHD; Appendices: A. Essentials of vector calculus; B. Essentials of Electrodynamics; C. The 'Conics of PDEs; D. The secant method; E. Roots of a Cubic; F. Sixth-order Runge-Kutta; G. Coriolis' theorem; H. The diffusion equation; Variable glossary; References; Index.
  • Nonlinear science
  • Plasma physics
  • Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
  • Undergraduate
  • General (US: Trade)
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List Price: £59.99