Author Description

The aim of this book is to elucidate a number of basic topics in the physics of dense plasmas interfacing with condensed matter physics, atomic physics, nuclear physics, and astrophysics. Key topics include equations of states and phase processes, which are all affected by the strong exchange and Coulomb correlations in condensed plasmas. Astrophysical dense plasmas are those found in the interiors, surfaces, and outer envelopes of such astronomical objects as neutron stars, white dwarfs, the Sun, brown dwarfs, and giant planets. Condensed plasmas in laboratory settings include metals and alloys (solid, amorphous, liquid, and compressed), semiconductors (electrons, holes, and their droplets), and various realizations of dense plasmas (shock-compressed, diamond-anvil cell, metal vaporization, pinch discharges, and so on). Every effort has been expended to make the presentation in this volume as self-contained as possible.