Fundamentals of Charged Particle Transport in Gases and Condensed Matter

[Extract] The foundations of modern transport theory were laid 150 years ago in a seminal paper presented to the Royal Society of London by J. Clerk Maxwell. He formulated the equations of change for the physical properties of a gas, represented as moments or averages over a velocity distribution function and paid particular attention to the influence of collisions. Six years later, Ludwig Boltzmann, undoubtedly influenced by Maxwell’s results, presented a kinetic equation to the German Physical Society in Berlin, whose solution furnished the required distribution function. In spite of early criticism and subsequent intense scrutiny, Boltzmann’s equation has withstood the test of time and has gone on to become a main-stay in the field of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, in general, and charged particle transport, in particular, the subject of this book. The key to the success and longevity of Boltzmann’s equation is not only its ability to furnish accurate theoretical values of experimentally measured quantities, but also its remarkable flexibility and adaptability to systems and physics that Boltzmann could not possibly have foreseen. Thus, there are generalizations of the kinetic equation to condensed matter, as discussed in this book, and to quantum and relativistic systems, discussed elsewhere. In addition, there are many adaptations and applications of Boltzmann’s equation to traditional and contemporary areas of basic physics research and technology. To take just one example of cutting edge science: laser acceleration of particles to very high energies over distances several orders of magnitude smaller than conventional accelerators has been modelled through methods which are similar, at least in principle, to the ideas of Boltzmann and Maxwell. It would take several volumes to do justice to all of the fields on which the Boltzmann equation has had an impact and any single exposition, like the present, is necessarily circumscribed. Nevertheless, the scope of this book is broad and, moreover, the treatment is unique in that we provide a unified approach to the transport theory of particles of various types (electrons, ions, atoms, positrons, and muons) in various media (gases, soft-condensed matter, and amorphous materials).The applications are many and diverse, ranging from traditional drift tube experiments, positron emission tomography, and muon-catalyzed fusion, through to recent developments in materials physics.

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