The NATO Advanced Study Institute on "Atomic and Molecular Processes in Controlled TheI'IllOnuclear Fusion" was held at Chateau de Bonas, Castera-Verduzan, Gel's, France, from 13th to 24th August 1979, and this volume contains the text of the invited lectures. The Institute was supported by the Scientific Affairs Division of NATO, and additional support was received from EURATOM and the United States National Science Foundation. The Institute was attended by 88 scientists, all of whom were active research workers in control of thermonuclear plasmas, 01' atomic and molecular physics, 01' both. In addition to the formal lectures, printed in this volume, which were intended to be pedagogic, more than twenty research seminars were given by participants. The first half of the Institute was directed to introducing atomic and molecular theoretical and experimental physicists to the physics of controlled thermonuclear fusion. Most attention was paid to magnetic confinement, and within that field, to tokamaks. MI'.

The need for long-term energy sources, in particular for our highly technological society, has become increasingly apparent during the last decade. One of these sources, of tremendous poten tial importance, is controlled thermonuclear fusion. The goal of controlled thermonuclear fusion research is to produce a high-temperature, completely ionized plasma in which the nuclei of two hydrogen isotopes, deuterium and tritium, undergo enough fusion reactions so that the nuclear energy released by these fusion reactions can be transformed into heat and electricity with an overall gain in energy. This requires average kinetic energies for the nuclei of the order of 10 keV, corresponding to temperatures of about 100 million degrees. Moreover, the plasma must remain confined for a certain time interval, during which sufficient energy must be produced to heat the plasma, overcome the energy losses and supply heat to the power station. At present, two main approaches are being investigated to achieve these objectives: magnetic confinement and inertial con finement. In magnetic confinement research, a low-density plasma is heated by electric currents, assisted by additional heating methods such as radio-frequency heating or neutral beam injection, and the confinement is achieved by using various magnetic field configurations. Examples of these are the plasmas produced in stellarator and tokamak devices.

This well-illustrated resource provides vital cross-section information for the atomic and molecular collision processes taking place in the boundary region of magnetically confined fusion plasmas and in other laboratory and astrophysical low-temperature plasmas. The expertly assessed information in this noteworthy volume includes the most recent experimental and theoretical results presented in a convenient format. Coverage includes the processes of electron-impact excitation and ionization of plasma edge atoms, electron-ion recombination, dissociative collision processes involving electrons and much more.

TO THE SECOND EDITION In the nine years since this book was first written, rapid progress has been made scientifically in nuclear fusion, space physics, and nonlinear plasma theory. At the same time, the energy shortage on the one hand and the exploration of Jupiter and Saturn on the other have increased the national awareness of the important applications of plasma physics to energy production and to the understanding of our space environment. In magnetic confinement fusion, this period has seen the attainment 13 of a Lawson number nTE of 2 x 10 cm -3 sec in the Alcator tokamaks at MIT; neutral-beam heating of the PL T tokamak at Princeton to KTi = 6. 5 keV; increase of average ß to 3%-5% in tokamaks at Oak Ridge and General Atomic; and the stabilization of mirror-confined plasmas at Livermore, together with injection of ion current to near field-reversal conditions in the 2XIIß device. Invention of the tandem mirror has given magnetic confinement a new and exciting dimension. New ideas have emerged, such as the compact torus, surface-field devices, and the EßT mirror-torus hybrid, and some old ideas, such as the stellarator and the reversed-field pinch, have been revived. Radiofrequency heat ing has become a new star with its promise of dc current drive. Perhaps most importantly, great progress has been made in the understanding of the MHD behavior of toroidal plasmas: tearing modes, magnetic Vll Vlll islands, and disruptions.

The book is a presentation of the basic principles and main achievements in the field of nuclear fusion. It encompasses both magnetic and inertial confinements plus a few exotic mechanisms for nuclear fusion. The state-of-the-art regarding thermonuclear reactions, hot plasmas, tokamaks, laser-driven compression and future reactors is given.

The goals of atomic, molecular, and optical physics (AMO physics) are to elucidate the fundamental laws of physics, to understand the structure of matter and how matter evolves at the atomic and molecular levels, to understand light in all its manifestations, and to create new techniques and devices. AMO physics provides theoretical and experimental methods and essential data to neighboring areas of science such as chemistry, astrophysics, condensed-matter physics, plasma physics, surface science, biology, and medicine. It contributes to the national security system and to the nation's programs in fusion, directed energy, and materials research. Lasers and advanced technologies such as optical processing and laser isotope separation have been made possible by discoveries in AMO physics, and the research underlies new industries such as fiber-optics communications and laser-assisted manufacturing. These developments are expected to help the nation to maintain its industrial competitiveness and its military strength in the years to come. This report describes the field, characterizes recent advances, and identifies current frontiers of research.