Ever since the first observations of turbulent fluctuations in laboratory plasma experiments in the years around 1980, turbulence in magnetised plasmas has been a subject of vigorous interest in the field of plasma physics and magnetic confinement. The first of a two-volume set, this book begins with an overview of the essential nature of a plasma and a magnetised plasma, then turbulence and plasma turbulence are introduced conceptually and mathematically. There follows a theoretical interlude developing the concepts of fluid and plasma dynamics. After this, concepts of energetic consistency and nonlinear instability and mode structure are emphasised. The effects of magnetic shear and curvature, and open and closed magnetic field line flux surfaces, and finally the interaction with both background and self-generated flows, are covered. An interlude points to a second volume treating temperature gradients and fluctuations, gyrokinetic and gyrofluid theory, and the interplay with magnetohydrodynamic instabilities. Part of IOP Series in Plasma Physics.
Includes bibliographical references and index.