Plasma Physics: Proceedings of the 1997 Latin American Workshop on Plasma Physics Held in Caracas, Venezuela, January 20-31, 1997 Book

	Preface
	List of Sponsors
	Introduction
	Dense Z-pinches	1
	Computational simulation of plasmas	13
	Plasma physics in astronomy and cosmology	37
	Advances in numerical modeling of astrophysical and space plasmas	51
	Plasma kinetic theory I	77
	Plasma collective effects in the presence of dust	85
	Shock structures in plasmas containing variable-charge macro particles	107
	Review of inertial confinement fusion	125
	A new approach to ICF	141
	Hohlraum targets driven by cluster ion beams for intertial confinement fusion	151
	The interaction physics of the fast ignitor concept	161
	Charge compensated ion beam propagation in a reactor sized chamber	169
	Sawtooth instability in tokamak plasmas	177
	Important issues of physics of improved confinement in Tokamaks	205
	Rotation of tokamak plasmas by Alfven waves	219
	Anisotropic magnetic confinement. Applications to field-reversed configurations	235
	Energy exhaust from tokamaks: problems and solutions	247
	Improved approximated solutions to the nonlinear debye potential	263
	Entropy and entropy production in transition from weak to strong turbulent plasma state	269
	Nonlinear processes in lower-hybrid current drive and plasma heating	273
	Plasma kinetic theory II	277
	Nonlinear electric field diffusion in plasmas	283
	MHD leaky waves in a layered plasma: I theory	289
	MHD leaky waves in a layered plasma: II mechanisms of leakage	297
	MHD leaky waves in a layered plasma: III numerical solutions	303
	Growth rates of envelope modulations of electromagnetic waves in relativistic temperature electron-positron plasmas, stimulated by weak or finite phonon damping	311
	Electromagnetic oscillations in cylindrical plasmas with electron beams interactions	321
	UV line profiles of BIV from a 10-ps KrF-laser-produced plasma	327
	Experimental analysis of hydrodynamic solitions	333
	Pre-breakdown processes in the hollow cathode region of a transient hollow cathode discharge	337
	Rapid reconnection and compressible plasma waves	343
	New calculations of the electrical microfield distribution in plasma	349
	Analytical approximant of the universal line shape	355
	Spectral study of ionized xenon using a capillary pulsed discharge	359
	On the thermochemical instability of an ionized plasma cooled by oxygen forbidden lines	365
	Space charge potentials in cylindrical geometries including temperature effects	369
	CME phenomenology in different solar magnetic scenarios	373
	On the thermochemical instability of optically thin plasmas	377
	Nonlinear evolution of thermal structures. Numerical approach	381
	On the nonlinear thermal evolution of solar corona structures	387
	Photo-ionizing flash as a trigger for efficient H[subscript 2] cooling in metal-free clouds	393
	Thermal instability for convection in astrophysical plasmas	399
	Parametric decay of a circularly polarized electromagnetic wave in an electron-positron magnetized plasma	403
	New system of coordinates for tokamaks	411
	Rotation of weakly collisional plasmas in tokamaks, operated with Alfven waves	417
	Current drive by Alfven waves in elongated cross section tokamak	421
	Feedback stabilization of burn conditions in a thermonuclear reactor using artificial neural networks: preliminary results	425
	Effect of induced toroidal rotation on poloidal rotation and ion heat conductivity of tokamak edge plasmas	431
	Low-angle Thomson scattering experiment for determination of plasma electron density and temperature	437
	Gas embedded compressional Z-pinch in H[subscript 2] and D[subscript 2]	443
	Investigation of variation of focus action with the length of the inner electrode for a plasma focus	447
	Numerical study of the first compression of a two-dimensional pinch	451
	2-D code for simulating a hollow gas puff Z-pinch	459
	Optical measurements in an exploding wire experiment	467
	Studies of plasma dynamics in a small plasma focus operating in hydrogen-argon mixtures	473
	Time resolved studies of a pulsed hollow cathode capillary discharge	479
	Current sheath studies in a small plasma focus operating in hydrogen-argon mixtures	485
	Hard X-ray diagnostic of Z-pinch discharges	491
	Thermal decomposition of ilmenite in a non-transferred ARC thermal plasma flow reactor	499
	Spatial and temporal behavior of a laser generated titanium plasma	505
	Ion-gas interaction in a vacuum ARC at intermediate pressures	511
	TiN production in a glow discharge	517
	Correlation between the population of active species in low pressure plasmas and their reactions with organic compounds	523
	Spectral broadening of the 3463 A line in a zirconium plasma generated by laser irradiation	529
	A compact high-voltage pulse generator for plasma applications	533
	Laser ablation in the synthesis of zirconium oxide	539