Related papers: Partially Ionized Plasmas in Astrophysics
The presence of neutral species in a plasma has been shown to greatly affect the properties of magnetohydrodynamic waves. For instance, the interaction between ions and neutrals through momentum transfer collisions causes the damping of…
The Intergalactic Medium (IGM) contains $>$50% of the baryonic mass of the Universe, yet the mechanisms responsible for keeping the IGM ionized has not been fully explained. Hence, we investigate ion abundances from the largest blind QSO…
We introduce collisions of solids as a new and efficient ionization mechanism for gas in protoplanetary disks, which especially operates in the dense midplane of protoplanetary disks. This idea is sparked by laboratory experiments where we…
The escape of ionizing radiation from galaxies plays a critical role in the evolution of gas in galaxies, and the heating and ionization history of the intergalactic medium. We present semi-analytic calculations of the escape fraction of…
Pulsars are fantastic objects, which show the extreme states of matters and plasma physics not understood yet. Pulsars can be used as probes for the detection of interstellar medium and even the gravitational waves. Here I review the basic…
Availability of reliable atomic and molecular opacity tables is essential in a wide variety of astronomical modeling: the solar and stellar interiors, stellar and planetary atmospheres, stellar evolution, pulsating stars, and protoplanetary…
Polarization is a basic property of light and is fundamentally linked to the internal geometry of a source of radiation. Polarimetry complements photometric, spectroscopic, and imaging analyses of sources of radiation and has made possible…
Early results concerning the shape and stability of ion acoustic waves are generalized to propagation at an angle to the magnetic field lines. Each wave has a critical angle for stability. Known soliton results are recovered as special…
Complex plasmas consist of microparticles embedded in a low-temperature plasma and allow investigating various effects by tracing the motion of these microparticles. Dust density waves appear in complex plasmas as self-excited acoustic…
In this review, I briefly summarize the present status of experimental and theoretical investigations of the properties of matter under conditions characteristic of planetary interiors, from terrestrial to jovian planets. I first focus on…
Ice is a major component of astrophysical environment - from interstellar molecular clouds through protoplanetary disks to evolved solar systems. Ice and complex organic matter coexist in these environments as well, and it is thought…
The objective of this paper is to apply the recent achievements in understanding of the non-MHD effects in plasma (acquired both in laboratory experiments, as well as in theory), to the interstellar phenomena. Applied to the space plasma,…
In the solar atmosphere, the chromospheric and coronal plasmas are much hotter than the visible photosphere. The heating of the solar atmosphere, including the partially ionized chromosphere and corona, remains largely unknown. In this…
This chapter explores the physics shared by planetary rings and the various disks that populate the Universe. It begins with an observational overview, ranging from protoplanetary disks to spiral galaxies, and then compares and contrasts…
The theory of transport of charged particles in cosmic magnetic fields is at the very center of the investigation of non-thermal phenomena in the universe, ranging from our local neighborhood to supernovae, clusters of galaxies or distant…
The experimental study of the dynamics of neutral electron-positron beams is an emerging area of research, enabled by the recent results on the generation of this exotic state of matter in the laboratory. Electron-positron beams and plasmas…
Complex plasmas consist of microparticles embedded in a low-temperature plasma containing ions, electrons and neutral particles. The microparticles form a dynamical system that can be used to study a multitude of effects on the level of the…
The following notes are intended to provide a brief primer in plasma physics, introducing common definitions, basic properties and processes typically found in plasmas. These concepts are inherent in contemporary plasma-based accelerator…
Magnetic fields are everywhere in the Universe and in our everyday life and many processes are affected by their presence, generating a rich phenomenology that depends also on other possible external agents. We review here some results,…
Diffuse interstellar clouds show large abundances of H_3^+ which can be maintained only by a high ionization rate of H_2. Cosmic rays are the dominant ionization mechanism in this environment, so the large ionization rate implies a high…