This book presents studies of complexity in the context of nonequilibrium phenomena using theory, modeling, simulations, and experiments, both in the laboratory and in nature.

The first research on plasma was done in connection with the study of electrical discharges in gases. The focus of attention for physicists was the partially ionized plasma, the kinetics of which is governed by various collisional and radiative processes. The choice of this area of research was motivated largely by the practical problems of that time the creation of gas-discharge light sources, rectifiers, and inverters. Since the early 1950s interest in plasma physics has risen sharply, particularly in the study of the completely ionized plasma with its various collective phenomena, insta bilities, and the interesting and sometimes unexpected effects attending the propagation of electromagnetic waves in such a plasma and the action on it of external electric and magnetic fields. Interest in hot plasmas has been stimulated not only by the diverse and novel physical phenomena, but also by the problems arising in connection with controlled nuclear fusion. The advent, in the early 1960s, of new technical fields such as gas-discharge lasers, magnetohydrodynamic generators, thermoemission converters, plasma chemistry, plasma propul sion devices, various methods in plasma technology, etc. , has led to increased interest in weakly ionized low-tempera ture plasmas. This is particularly true of nonequilibrium plasmas, which are characterized by an extraordinary diver sity of states and properties.

The report summarizes the research completed under this contract. The work has been reported in 19 journal or proceedings articles, and in 7 published reports. Areas studied include transport coefficients in partially ionized two-temperature plasmas, the effects of nonelastic collisions on the kinetic-theory of high temperature gases, ionization rates including nonelastic collision effects, the nonequilibrium boundary layer in flowing plasmas, vibrational interactions in rapidly expanding gases, stability and breakdown phenomena in plasmas flowing through magnetic fields, current distributions and discharge characteristics, and diagnostic techniques. The work is summarized under four broad categories : MHD Generator-Related Experiments, Properties of Nonequilibrium Collision Dominated Plasmas, Diagnostics, and Nonequilibrium Measurements in Rapidly Expanded Flows. (Author).

This authoritative reference presents a comprehensive review of the evolution of plasma science and technology fundamentals over the past five decades. One of this field’s principal challenges has been its multidisciplinary nature requiring coverage of fundamental plasma physics in plasma generation, transport phenomena under high-temperature conditions, involving momentum, heat and mass transfer, and high-temperature reaction kinetics, as well as fundamentals of material science under extreme conditions. The book is structured in five distinct parts, which are presented in a reader-friendly format allowing for detailed coverage of the science base and engineering aspects of the technology including plasma generation, mathematical modeling, diagnostics, and industrial applications of thermal plasma technology. This book is an essential resource for practicing engineers, research scientists, and graduate students working in the field.

Nonequilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma jets (N-APPJs) generate plasma in open space rather than in a confined chamber and can be utilized for applications in medicine. This book provides a complete introduction to this fast-emerging field, from the fundamental physics, to experimental approaches, to plasma and reactive species diagnostics. It provides an overview of the development of a wide range of plasma jet devices and their fundamental mechanisms. The book concludes with a discussion of the exciting application of plasmas for cancer treatment. The book provides details on experimental methods including expert tips and caveats. covers novel devices driven by various power sources and the impact of operating conditions on concentrations and fluxes of the reactive species. discusses the latest advances including theory, modeling, and simulation approaches. gives an introduction, overview and details on state of the art diagnostics of small scale high gradient atmospheric pressure plasmas. covers the use of N-APPJs for cancer applications, including discussion of destruction of cancer cells, mechanisms of action, and selectivity studies. XinPei Lu is a Chair Professor in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Stephan Reuter is currently Visiting Professor at Université Paris-Saclay. In a recent Alexander von Humboldt research fellowship at Princeton University, he performed ultrafast laser spectroscopy on cold plasmas. Mounir Laroussi is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Plasma Engineering and Medicine Institute at Old Dominion University. He is a Fellow of IEEE and recipient of an IEEE Merit Award. DaWei Liu is Professor in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

This book provides an introduction to topics in non-equilibrium quantum statistical physics for both mathematicians and theoretical physicists. The first part introduces a kinetic equation, of Kolmogorov type, which is needed to describe an isolated atom (actually, in experiments, an ion) under the effect of a classical pumping electromagnetic field which keeps the atom in its excited state(s) together with the random emission of fluorescence photons which put it back into its ground state. The quantum kinetic theory developed in the second part is an extension of Boltzmann's classical (non-quantum) kinetic theory of a dilute gas of quantum bosons. This is the source of many interesting fundamental questions, particularly because, if the temperature is low enough, such a gas is known to have at equilibrium a transition, the Bose–Einstein transition, where a finite portion of the particles stay in the quantum ground state. An important question considered is how a Bose gas condensate develops in time if its energy is initially low enough.