  A review of the theoretical and computational aspects of plasma-wall
transition is presented. The conditions for the existence of plasma sheaths in
front of a solid surface are established. Various regimes are analyzed
-collisionless and collisional. fluid and kinetic, with and without ionization.
The partition of the plasma-wall transition into distinct regions (Debye
sheath, quasineutral presheath. magnetic presheath, etc...) is also discussed.
Applications to the theory of electrostatic probes are illustrated by means of
a recently developed kinetic model. The influence of the probe on ion
temperature measurements is studied in detail.

Plasma Physics