The authors' view on development of theoretical concepts of collisionless plasma is presented. The review begins with Lord Rayleigh's studies who established basics of multi-electron system theory in 1906 as a development of J.J. Thompson's atomic theory. The exploration was based on the concept that electrons move in a self-consistent electric field produced by the electrons themselves. Rayleigh used then this concept to predict oscillatory motion of electrons and obtained a formula for the frequency of the system's collective oscillations. Those studies established a foundation of Rayleigh's multi-electron system, and his formula for the frequency of collective oscillations may be considered the first accomplishment of the science pioneered by Lord Rayleigh.

Keywords: Rayleigh model, Langmuir—Tonks model, self-consistent field, Boltzmann kinetic equation, Landau collision integral, Vlasov equation PACS: 01.65.+g, 52.25.−b (all) DOI: 10.3367/UFNe.2018.09.038445 URL: https://ufn.ru/en/articles/2019/7/e/ 000492057500005 2-s2.0-85076788057 2019PhyU...62..691R Citation: Rukhadze A A, Silin V P "From Lord Rayleigh to Professor A.A. Vlasov (from 1906 to 1945)" Phys. Usp. 62 691–698 (2019) BibTexBibNote ® (generic)BibNote ® (RIS)MedlineRefWorks Received: 19th, April 2018, revised: 21st, August 2018, accepted: 20th, September 2018 Оригинал: Рухадзе А А, Силин В П «От лорда Рэлея до профессора А.А. Власова (с 1906 г. по 1945 г.)» УФН 189 739–746 (2019); DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.2018.09.038445