Starting from the fundamental constituents of matter, this book provides a more precise idea of what an atom or a molecule is by using theories which reproduce the experimental behaviour of matter. Aware of the comprehension difficulties that quantum theory can raise in the minds of students, the book insists on the importance of the physical principles which underlie it, such as the Coulomb relationship, the particle-wave duality, the notion of indeterminism, presence probability and the virial theorem.
This book is a comprehensive introduction to the physics of intense laser-plasma interaction, motivated by applications in high-energy-density physics. For master’s and graduate students, it combines accessible theory with up-to-date developments and practical exercises.
