Understanding how plasma diffusion really works—from local rules to global boundary effects.
This book examines why diffusion cannot be reduced to a single local coefficient, and how global constraints shape transport in hot plasmas.
The discussion moves beyond the simplest models to reveal how boundary conditions, geometry, and averaging alter diffusion and energy flow. It explains why assuming curl E = 0 or a fixed profile can misrepresent real tokamak behavior, and how the interplay of inertia, skin effects, and convection changes the picture. The author also connects these ideas to Onsager symmetry, topological constraints, and how averaging can both help and mislead depending on the problem.
- Why plasma diffusion is a global boundary-value problem, not a local transport coefficient.
- How special and general theories differ in predicting diffusion and energy flow.
- How constraints on current and temperature surfaces affect the symmetry and outcomes of transport calculations.
- Practical implications for tokamaks, stability concepts, and the interpretation of experimental results.
Ideal for readers seeking a rigorous, theory-driven view of plasma transport and its limitations, including researchers and graduate students in plasma physics.