Principles of Plasma Diagnostics: Second Edition

Although diagnostics are the essential tools of the experimental plasma physicist, there are surprisingly few up-to-date books in this field. Several excellent volumes appeared in the early days of fusion research but these, though containing much material that is still relevant, are now seriously out of date with respect to the substantial advances that have taken place in this field over the past decades. There is of course a vast amount of information in journal articles, conference papers and reviews, but these generally are aimed at the experienced specialist and consequently usually omit, or at most give a quick overview of, the basic principles. Moreover most research papers are concerned either with recent developments or with specific applications of existing techniques making it difficult for a newcomer to the field to find a good introduction to the basic principles. So when the first edition of Ian Hutchinson's book entitled Principles of Plasma Diagnostics appeared some 15 years ago it filled an important niche and quickly established a high reputation.