Interplanetary Magnetohydrodynamics: (3 International Series in Astronomy and Astrophysics)

Spacecraft have explored the interplanetary medium between the orbits of Mercury and Pluto, revealing the exotic and beautiful nature of the environment of our planet and sun. This book summarizes the principle results of these historic expeditions. Magnetohydrodynamics provides the framework for interpreting the observations, and the observations have greatly enriched the subject of magnetohydrodynamics. Numerous figures in the book illustrate the essential observations and fundamental concepts. Simple equations summarize basic physical and phenomenological relations observed in the interplanetary medium. Fundamental objects observed in the interplanetary medium include various types of MHD shocks, tangenital and rotational discontinuities, and force-free field configurations. Fundamental processes observed in the interplanetary medium include the interaction among shocks (which can be classified using catastrophic theory), the formation of merged interaction region regions associated with various types of flows, the destruction of flows, the growth of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and formation of a heliospheric vortex street, the development of multifractal fluctuations on various scales, and the evolution of multifractal intermittent turbulence. These physical objects and processes are of fundamental interest in themselves. The knowledge about them derived from interplanetary investigations has applications to magnetospheric physics, solar physics, cosmic ray physics and astrophysics. The book contains an extensive set of reference that gives the readers access to the detailed results in the literature.

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction 2: Large-Scale Magnetic Field 3: Large-Scale Plasma 4: Pressure Balance Structures 5: Shocks 6: Magnetic Clouds and Force-Free Magnetic Fields 7: Corotating Streams and Interaction Regions 8: Merged Interaction Regions 9: Large-Scale Fluctuations 10: Heliospheric Vortex Street

About the Author :
Leonard F. Burlaga received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1966. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the NASA/Goddard Research Center in Maryland.

Review :
"Burlaga blends his detailed understanding of the observations with both standard plasma theory and modern concepts from nonlinear dynamics, turbulence theory and other fields. The mix is almost always satisfactory, and sometimes it is much more....this book will be a valuable and stimulating guide for advanced graduate students and researchers who want to enter space physics or who want a concise discussion of the highly relevant topics that the book covers." --Physics Today "The main strength of this book is the wealth of observational data it provides....a detailed and useful compendium for the specialist and a rich guide to the literature." --Science "Burlaga blends his detailed understanding of the observations with both standard plasma theory and modern concepts from nonlinear dynamics, turbulence theory and other fields. The mix is almost always satisfactory, and sometimes it is much more....this book will be a valuable and stimulating guide for advanced graduate students and researchers who want to enter space physics or who want a concise discussion of the highly relevant topics that the book covers." --Physics Today "The main strength of this book is the wealth of observational data it provides....a detailed and useful compendium for the specialist and a rich guide to the literature." --Science