ABSTRACT
The dynamics of plasma is controlled by electric and magnetic forces in most relevant and interesting cases. The analysis of plasma dynamics must therefore be based on Maxwell’s equations one way or another. This chapter starts the discussion of the plasma dynamic equations with a summary of electrodynamics. It is only meant as a summary for reference in the text: a deeper exposition of the subject is found in classic textbooks on the subject by Stratton and Jackson, with more basic texts being available also Duffin, Good, Griffiths. The integral form of Maxwell’s equations is used mostly to determine boundary conditions, while the differential form is used mostly for studying dynamic phenomena, electromagnetic waves, in particular. Maxwell’s equations are linear; if the magnitude of all variables is doubled, they still remain solutions of the equations. This observation is after all rather trivial; the possibility of nonlinear phenomena enters through the interaction of fields with matter.
