The transport theory of a high-energy ion species injected isotropically in a magnetized plasma is considered for arbitrary ratios of the high-energy ion cyclotron frequency to the collisional slowing down time. The assumptions of (i) low fractional density of the high-energy species and (ii) average ion speed faster than the thermal ions and slower than the electrons are used to decouple the kinetic equation for the high-energy species from the kinetic equations for background ions and electrons. The kinetic equation is solved by a Chapman–Enskog expansion in the strength of the gradients; an equation for the first correction to the lowest-order distribution function is obtained without scaling a priori the collision frequency with respect to the gyrofrequency. Various transport coefficients are explicitly calculated for the two cases of a weakly and a strongly magnetized plasma.

A cold-fluid model is used to describe the nonlinear evolutions of low-density non-neutral plasma immersed in a strong axial magnetic field. It is assumed that there is no axial dependence, and that the electron fluid moves with the usual E × B drift velocity. Use is made of global (spatially averaged) conservation constraints satisfied by the continuity and Poisson equations to obtain a nonlinear bound on the unstable fluctuation level for a general initial density profile.

The dispersion relation for plasma waves is considered in the ‘cold’ plasma approximation. General formulae for the dependence of the phase and group velocities on the direction of wave propagation with respect to the local magnetic field are obtained for a cold magnetized plasma. The principal cold plasma resonances and cut-off frequencies are defined for an arbitrary angle and are used to establish basic regimes of frequency where the cold plasma waves can propagate or can be evanescent. The relationship between direction of wave and energy propagation, for cold plasma waves in hydrogen atmosphere, is presented in the form of angle diagrams (angle between group velocity and magnetic field versus angle between phase velocity and magnetic field) and polar diagrams (also referred to as ‘Friedrich's diagrams’ ) for different directions of wave propagation. Morphological features of the diagrams as well as some critical angles of propagation are discussed.

Explicit analytical solutions are given for the collisionless time evolution of the distribution function for ions absorbing RF wave power through ion cyclotron resonance heating in a tokamak. Two different scenarios are considered: (i) conventional ICRH and (ii) combined neutral beam heating and ICRH with the RF wave frequency tuned to the ion cyclotron resonance frequency of the injected ions. Finally, the effect of particle trapping on the time development of the distribution function is also analysed.

We present a theoretical investigation of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) of whistler waves in low-density collisionless plasmas in the presence of negative ions and incorporating the effect of the ponderomotive force on electrons. It is found that the growth rate of the excited ion quasi-mode decreases with increasing concentration of negative ions. The effect of negative ions on the SBS of the whistler waves during the ionospheric modification is discussed.

The propagation of whistler-mode waves at frequencies above one half the electron gyrofrequency has been investigated for a magnetospheric two-component plasma (cold and lower energy hot electrons) by use of the properties of refractive index surfaces. The presence of hot plasma is found to enhance the tendency towards field-aligned focusing of half-gyrofrequency whistler-mode propagation at large wave normal angles close to the oblique resonance angle of the whistler-mode propagation in the corresponding cold plasma.

We use computer simulation experiments to investigate the nonlinear behaviour of plasmas with a mixture of anisotropic protons and isotropie alpha particles, embedded in a static magnetic field. Specifically, we study the linearly predicted ‘stop-band’ for the propagation of the proton-produced electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves in conjunction with the energization of the heavier ions by the same waves. For this, three cases are considered: (1) proton + electron plasma; (2) proton + electron + cold alpha particle plasma, and (3) proton + electron + warm alpha particle plasma. Among the main results obtained we mention the following, (a) In the presence of significant relative He2+ concentrations (either cold or warm) all proton-produced left-polarized waves having frequencies above the alpha-particle gyrofrequency are practically suppressed, during the entire nonlinear evolution of the system, indicating that particle–wave–particle interactions are confined to the low-frequency branch of the waves, (b) The ‘remnant’ wave energy, i.e. that part of the wave energy not transferred to the particles, decreases significantly when going from case 1 to case 3. (c) Nevertheless, in all three cases, the initial proton thermal anisotropy relaxes to the same quasi-equilibrium value (≃ 1·5). (d) The cold alpha particles in case 2 are strongly heated by their non-resonant interaction with the proton-produced ion cyclotron electromagnetic waves, (e) In contrast, the initially warm isotropic alpha particles in case 3 are heated by resonant interaction with the proton-produced waves, resulting in an increase in the perpendicular energy and a decrease in the parallel energy. The physical processes involved in the collisionless interaction of these mixed protons and heavier ions (alpha particles) are discussed.

In part 1, a model problem for collisional relaxation in velocity space was constructed, and a series solution suitable for small times was obtained. In the present paper, a series suitable for large times is obtained, and further properties of both series are investigated.

The theory of plasma ablation by laser irradiation of a solid target is considered when thermal conduction is weak and the absorption is dominated by inverse bremsstrahlung (the self-regulating model). Analytic solutions are identified to treat both steady and time-dependent flows in limiting cases. The intermediate behaviour is explored by numerical modelling. The models are presented for planar, cylindrical and spherical geometries with both tight and weak focused beams. A brief investigation of the applicability of analytic models to the heating of thin foil systems is also presented.

This paper presents a formulation of the nonlinear coupling of the electron whistler mode radiation with generalized (including higher frequencies than allowed by the magnetohydrodynamic model) magnetosonic fluctuations. A coupled set of nonlinear equations describing the interaction of the whistler wave electric field with the density and the field-aligned magnetic fluctuations of the generalized magnetosonic waves is derived and the problem of modula-tional instability is discussed. Our results have relevance to the non-thermal magnetic field fluctuations which lead to supplementary plasma heating.

Excitation of electron holes and electron wave pulses is investigated numerically in a single-ended plasma by computer simulation using a particle model. The transverse effects are taken into account by introducing the perpendicular wavenumber in the Poisson equation. Increase in the plasma potential in front of a plasma source, resulting from propagation of the rarefaction pulse from an end boundary, gives rise to the excitation of electron holes, while the rarefaction pulse reflects back as the compression pulse toward the boundary. The qualitative properties are in good agreement with experiment.

Several branches of strongly damped electromagnetic hot plasma modes have been found around the first two harmonics of the electron cyclotron frequency. They are right circularly polarized in parallel propagation, and their frequency mismatches and damping rates are linearly proportional to their parallel wavenumber, and almost independent of the plasma density when the density is sufficiently high. Details of the modes are presented.