The course is intended as the first plasma physics course however it is also suitable for senior undergraduate students and graduate students.

• Plasma phenomena on Earth and in the Universe; historical overview of plasma physics; contemporary research areas and technological applications of plasmas; studies of controlled nuclear fusion.
• Definition of plasma; quasineutrality, Debye length, plasma frequency.
• Coulomb collisions, Rutherford’s formula, Coulomb logarithm
• Motion of a single charged particle in magnetic field; Larmor radius, drifts, magnetic traps. 
• Controlled nuclear fusion; Lawson criterion and ignition criterion.
• Principles of plasma heating with electromagnetic waves and neutral beam injection. 
• Principles of plasma diagnostics, active and passive measurements, line-integral data, Doppler broadening.