Flashcards: Plasma physics

A fusor is a device that uses an electric field to heat ions to conditions suitable for nuclear fusion.

The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) was an ionospheric research program jointly funded by the U.

A magnetohydrodynamic generator (MHD generator) is a magnetohydrodynamic device that transforms thermal energy and kinetic energy into electricity.

Plasma lamps are a type of gas discharge lamp energized by radio frequency (RF) power.

An aurora, sometimes referred to as a polar light, is a natural light display in the sky, predominantly seen in the high latitude (Arctic and Antarctic) regions.

Ball lightning is an unexplained atmospheric electrical phenomenon.

Bremsstrahlung (German pronunciation: [ˈbʁɛmsˌʃtʁaːlʊŋ] , from bremsen "to brake" and Strahlung "radiation"; i.e., "braking radiation" or "deceleration radiation") is electromagnetic radiation produced by the deceleration of a charged particle when deflected by another charged particle, typically an electron by an atomic nucleus.

A corona (Latin, 'crown') is an aura of plasma that surrounds the sun and other stars.

A fluorescent lamp or a fluorescent tube is a low pressure mercury-vapor gas-discharge lamp that uses fluorescence to produce visible light.

In numerous fields of study, the component of instability within a system is generally characterized by some of the outputs or internal states growing without bounds.

The ionosphere (/aɪˈɒnəˌsfɪər/) is a region of Earth's upper atmosphere, from about 60 km (37 mi) to 1,000 km (620 mi) altitude, and includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere.

Plasma (from Greek πλάσμα, "anything formed") is one of the four fundamental states of matter, the others being solid, liquid, and gas.

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System.

The airglow phenomenon was first identified in 1868 by Swedish physicist Anders Ångström.

A plasma globe or plasma lamp (also called plasma ball, dome, sphere, tube or orb, depending on shape) is (usually) a clear glass sphere filled with a mixture of various noble gases with a high-voltage electrode in the center of the sphere.

The Z Pulsed Power Facility, informally known as the Z machine, is the largest high frequency electromagnetic wave generator in the world and is designed to test materials in conditions of extreme temperature and pressure.

The heliosphere is the bubble-like region of space dominated by the Sun, which extends far beyond the orbit of Pluto.

Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD; also magneto fluid dynamics or hydromagnetics) is the study of the magnetic properties of electrically conducting fluids.

In electricity, a corona discharge is an electrical discharge brought on by the ionization of a fluid such as air surrounding a conductor that is electrically charged.

A pinch is the compression of an electrically conducting filament by magnetic forces.

Ablation is removal of material from the surface of an object by vaporization, chipping, or other erosive processes.

Nuclear pulse propulsion or external pulsed plasma propulsion, is a hypothetical method of spacecraft propulsion that uses nuclear explosions for thrust.

Plasma parameters define various characteristics of a plasma, an electrically conductive collection of charged particles that responds collectively to electromagnetic forces.

The plasma parameter is a dimensionless number, denoted by capital Lambda, Λ.

The history of X-ray astronomy begins in the 1920s, with interest in short wave communications for the U.

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) is the sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown.

The Plasma Acoustic Shield System, or PASS, is in the process of being developed by Stellar Photonics.

Strangeness production is a signature and a diagnostic tool of quark–gluon plasma (or QGP) formation and properties.

Astrophysical X-ray sources are astronomical objects with physical properties which result in the emission of X-rays.