Classical Transport

The industrial and military applications of atomic energy have stimulated much mathematical research in neutron transport theory. The possibility of controlled thermonuclear processes has similarly focussed attention upon plasmas, sometimes called the "fourth state of matter". Independently, many classical aspects of kinetic theory and radiative transfer theory have been studied both because of their basic mathematical interest and of their physical applications to areas such as upper-atmosphere meteorology - introduction.

Problems after each chapter

This book originated out of a desire to provide students with an instrument which might lead them from knowledge of elementary classical and quantum physics to moderntheoreticaltechniques for the analysisof electrontransport in semiconductors. The book is basically a textbook for students of physics, material science, and electronics. Rather than a monograph on detailed advanced research in a speci?c area, it intends to introduce the reader to the fascinating ?eld of electron dynamics in semiconductors, a ?eld that, through its applications to electronics, greatly contributed to the transformationof all our lives in the second half of the twentieth century, and continues to provide surprises and new challenges. The ?eld is so extensive that it has been necessary to leave aside many subjects, while others could be dealt with only in terms of their basic principles. The book is divided into ?ve major parts. Part I moves from a survey of the fundamentals of classical and quantum physics to a brief review of basic semiconductor physics. Its purpose is to establish a common platform of language and symbols, and to make the entire treatment, as far as pos- ble, self-contained. Parts II and III, respectively, develop transport theory in bulk semiconductors in semiclassical and quantum frames. Part IV is devoted to semiconductor structures, including devices and mesoscopic coherent s- tems. Finally, Part V develops the basic theoretical tools of transport theory within the modern nonequilibrium Green-function formulation, starting from an introduction to second-quantization formalism.

Existing textbooks on plasma physics usually contain only a minor contribution devoted to plasma transport. The aim of Transport Processes in Plasmas'' is to provide a comprehensive and unified presentation of the transport theory in plasmas. This subject is of great importance in general statistical and plasma physics; moreover, it constitutes a keystone in the thermonuclear fusion programme as well as in astro- and geophysics. The subject is presented here by unified concepts, methods and notations. The contents are strongly embedded in a general framework of theoretical physics, appealing to modern Hamiltonian mechanics, kinetic theory, non-equilibrium thermodynamics, etc. The necessary concepts from these disciplines are briefly but completely explained, making the two volumes a self-contained text. Plasma transport theory can be characterised as a truly interdisciplinary activity, and several chapters are included containing the important concepts of these peripheral fields, briefly and completely. Many new features are introduced in those two volumes.