The collision frequency of electron-neutral-particle in the weakly ionized plasma with the power-law velocity distribution

We study the collision frequency of electron-neutral-particle in the weakly ionized plasma with the power-law velocity q-distribution and derive the formulation of the average collision frequency. We find that the average collision frequency in the q-distributed plasma also depends strongly on the q-parameter and thus is generally different from that in the Maxwell-distributed plasma, which therefore modifies the transport coefficients in the previous studies of the weakly ionized plasmas with the power-law velocity distributions.     

Dynamic non-Maxwellian screening effects on elastic collisions in Lorentzian plasmas

The dynamic plasma screening and non-Maxwellian effects on elastic electron-ion collisions are investigated in generalized Lorentzian distribution plasmas. The eikonal is employed to obtain the eikonal phase as a function of the spectral index, impact parameter, collision energy, thermal energy, and Debye length. The result shows that the non-Maxwellian effect suppresses the eikonal phase. It is found that the dynamic screening effect significantly enhances the elastic collision cross section for the low thermal energy case. In addition, the eikonal collision cross section is increased by the non-Maxwellian effect.     

Weak dissipation of electrostatic solitary structures in warm collisional pair-ion plasmas with non-Maxwellian electron population

The localized electrostatic structures with dissipation due to ion-neutral collisions in a symmetric warm pair-ion plasma in the presence of non-Maxwellian population of electrons are studied. The analytical model for ion dynamics is based on fluid equations and the evolution equation is derived by using the reductive perturbation scheme in the form of a damped Korteweg-de Vries equation. The parameter regime relevant to space-based observations and laboratory plasmas is considered and time evolution of the propagating ion-acoustic soliton is discussed. The energetic-particles-driven properties of soliton for various spectral indices, dissipation, ion temperature, and density are illustrated with comparison to the thermal mode for Boltzmann distribution of electrons.     

Ion velocity shear-induced drift wave and momentum transport in non-Maxwellian magnetoplasma flows

We have investigated the diamagnetic flow in a non-uniform partially ionized plasma with non-Maxwellian electron population to explain the dynamics of ion velocity shear-induced low-frequency drift mode and associated instabilities. The dispersion relations are found, and instability threshold conditions are pointed out along with ion-parallel momentum transport due to drift motion with relative phase shift of fluctuating quantities in a non-conservative system. The real frequencies and instability growth rates are studied numerically and illustrated for typical space and laboratory plasmas. This study should be useful in understanding some aspects of low-frequency time-delayed perturbations with sheared flow leading to drift instabilities and cross-field parallel ion momentum transport in nonuniform magnetoplasmas containing a non-Maxwellian electron population.     

非Maxwell电子速度分布对受激散射的影响

从考虑动理学效应的受激散射不稳定性的线性理论出发,对于n=2的Maxwell分布函数直到n=5的饱和情况的超高斯分布函数,计算了电子等离子体波和离子声波的频率和阻尼率。对受激喇曼散射和受激布里渊散射进行分析,结果表明,在激光高Z等离子体中,或者在具有激光热斑的中等Z等离子体中,电子等离子体波的阻尼率降低很多,离子声波的频率比Maxwell分布情况升高约15%。这些结果可和实验进行比较。     

碰撞等离子体的非相干散射谱

给出了任意非麦克斯韦速度分布条件下,碰撞等离子体非相干散射谱的求解方法的一般表达式,并给出了谱计算中,所必需的两个复奇点积分的计算方法.计算了低电离层HF加热下功率谱,讨论了碰撞频率、非麦氏指数、电子密度、电子温度和离子温度对功率谱的影响.由于碰撞和非麦克斯韦因子的作用,原有的电离层参量和谱型特征的对应关系不再成立,这会对电离层参量的反演带来很大误差,必须对原有的理论模型予以修正. 关键词： 功率谱 非相干散射雷达 非麦克斯韦分布函数 碰撞     

Zum Einfluß der Energieabhängigkeit der Elektronenstoßfrequenz auf die elektrische Leitfähigkeit schwach ionisierter Plasmen

With regard to experimental applications in plasma diagnostics numerical approximations are given for the Gurevic-type correction functions, which in the kinetic theory of weakly ionized plasmas describe the deviations from the Lorentzian electrical conductivity. The approximations are based either upon the dependance of the collision frequency on the power of the electron velocity, or on a first order Taylor expansion around the most probable electron velocity of a Maxwellian distribution. For all assumptions regarding the velocity dependance of the collision frequency the influence of temperature (and pressure) on the effective collision frequency is indicated.     

Nearly smooth granular gases

Hydrodynamic equations for nearly smooth granular gases are derived from the pertinent Boltzmann equation. The angular velocity distribution field needs to be included in the set of hydrodynamic fields. The angular velocity distribution is strongly non-Maxwellian for the homogeneous cooling state and any homogeneous steady state. In the case of steady wall-bounded shear flows the average spin (created at the boundaries) has a finite penetration length into the bulk.     

Laser-induced fluorescence measurement of the ion-energy-distribution function in a collisionless reconnection experiment

Observations in space and laboratory plasmas suggest magnetic reconnection as a mechanism for ion heating and formation of non-Maxwellian ion velocity distribution functions (IVDF). Laser-induced fluorescence measurements of the IVDF parallel to the X line of a periodically driven reconnection experiment are presented. A time-resolved analysis yields the evolution of the IVDF within a reconnection cycle. It is shown that reconnection causes a strong increase of the ion temperature, where the strongest increase is found at the maximum reconnection rate. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that ion heating is a consequence of the in-plane electric field that forms around the X line in response to reconnection.     

Debye Length in a Neutral-beam-heated Plasma

The scale length for an effective shielding of a charged particle in a plasma is the Debye length, which is for Maxwellian velocity distributions determined by the ratio of the temperature to the density. However, fusion plasmas heated by neutral-beam injection (NBI) exhibit highly non-Maxwellian slowing-down velocity distributions. In this case, the evaluation of the characteristic shielding distance from these velocity distributions requires the solution of Fokker-Planck-Poisson equations. In this paper, the effect of NBI slowing-down velocity distributions on the shielding distance are discussed. Analytic expressions for the Debye length of a neutral-beam-heated plasma are given. The results are compared to the Maxwellian case.     

Momentengleichungen für Plasmen mit anisotropem Neutralgasdruck und anisotropem Ionendruck

Strongly non-Maxwellian and non-isotropic velocity distributions of the neutral atoms and of the ions occur in collisionless plasmas at high degrees of ionization, especially in gas discharges at low pressures and high current densities and in high temperature plasmas. The velocity distributions and the related velocity moments for the neutral gas and the ion gas are calculated. The influence of the magnetic fields on the ions is neglected. Especially, the pressure tensors and the heat flow tensors are investigated. The differential equations are given for the velocity moments of the velocity distribution. Additional terms occur in the equation of motion, if the pressure is non-isotropic and non-Cartesian coordinates are used. A heat flow tensor is evaluated that closes the system of differential equations for the neutral gas consistently and allows to rederive typical formulas of the molecular neutral gas flow. The heat flow tensor essentially determines the type of the differential equation system for the velocity moments. It is shown, that the neutral gas temperature is not constant across the plasma. Different statements deal with the heat flow tensor in the ion gas. In particular, non-vanishing ion temperature on the axis and a system of differential equations for the positive column under free-fall conditions are investigated. The inertia terms for the ion gas and the neutral gas must be taken into account in the pressure balance of the plasma.     

Influence of strong laser fields on the inverse bremsstrahlung collision frequency

A new model is described for the absorption of laser light by a plasma. Two issues important for high laser intensity are considered: changes in the electron velocity distribution and the absorption non-linearity. The effects of anisotropy and non-Maxwellian distribution function are analysed with a hard sphere model. It is shown that anisotropy alters the electron-ion collision frequency by an amount which depends on the ratio of the temperatures in direction of and perpendicular to the laser field.The effect of high laser intensity is considered assuming Coulomb collisions, and a new expression obtained for the collision frequency as a function of quiver velocity. It will be shown that the result is in agreement with the Spitzer result in the case of small fields and with the result of Catto and Speziale in the case of very strong fields, but shows an unexpected maximum of the collision frequency in an intermediate regime.     

Modeling of stochastic forces in turbulent space plasmas

A model of a Langevin equation for electrons in turbulent, almost collisionfree magnetoactive plasmas is developed, which can form the starting point for particle simulations, especially in regions with reconnection of magnetic-field lines. The mean wave force is expressed by a friction force and a velocity derivative of the intensity of the stochastic force. The obtained expression for the Langevin force is consistent with the kinetic theory in a polarization approximation. The intensity of the stochastic force corresponds to the velocity diffusion tensor of the electrons, which is estimated for plasmas with ionacoustic turbulence using two different methods. One method is based on direct calculation of the space-time spectral density of the wave energy. The second method uses approximations of quasi-linear plasma theory. The estimates for the intensities of the stochastic forces found by the two methods differ by orders. A table of parameters of ion-acoustic waves, electron-wave collision frequencies, and intensities of stochastic-wave forces on electrons in solar flares, in the solar wind, as well as in different regions of the earth's magnetosphere is presented. Results are given for the entire ranges of available experimental data for the mean magnetic induction, mean plasma temperatures, and mean particle densities.Published from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 93–107, January, 1996.     

Nonthermal effects on the entanglement fidelity for elastic scatterings in Lorentzian plasmas

The nonthermal effects on the entanglement fidelity for the elastic electron-ion scattering are investigated in generalized Lorentzian plasmas. The dynamically screened effective potential and partial wave analysis are employed to obtain the entanglement fidelity in Lorentzian plasmas as a function of the spectral index, collision energy, and plasma parameters. It is shown that the entanglement fidelity increases with decreasing the collision energy, especially, for small Debye radii. It is also shown that the nonthermal effect enhances the entanglement fidelity in Lorentzian plasmas. In addition, it is found that the entanglement fidelity increases with an increase of the plasma temperature.     

Solid-state traveling-wave amplifiers and oscillators in the THz range: effect of electron collisions

Due to their high plasma frequencies, drifting semiconductor plasmas interacting with slow electromagnetic waves hold promise for terahertz amplifiers and oscillators. In these devices, the gain and the type of instabilities are influenced by electron collisions. To study the effect of collisions, we developed a two-wave model describing the interaction between drifting solid-state plasmas and electromagnetic waves. This paper analyzes the two-wave dispersion relation for representative examples. As the examples show, convective and absolute instabilities can occur at high and low collision frequencies depending on the relationship between the collision frequency and the coupling coefficient. Surprisingly, an absolute instability occurs when collision-dominated plasmas interact with backward waves. The model can be used to determine the potential of a particular configuration in a solid-state amplifier or oscillator.     

Determination of the densities and temperatures of two low energy electron groups in a hollow cathode discharge

A new method of Langmuir probe analysis for non-Maxwellian plasmas is proposed. The method consists of computer fitting a mathematical function to the normal probe voltage-current characteristic, assuming two groups of electrons, each with a Maxwellian distribution. The advantages of the method are that both the temperatures and the densities of the two groups may be determined and that the electron energy distribution function is a tractable mathematical function. The two groups are proven to be very nearly Maxwellian in the pressure range of 1.8 to 3.8 torr helium and the results are in excellent qualitative agreement with results obtained spectroscopically by other authors.     

Modulation of ion sound excitations in electron–ion plasmas with double spectral index distribution function

Theoretical investigation of amplitude modulation of ion sound waves is presented here for an electron–ion plasma where the electrons are dictated by the double spectral index (r, q) distribution function. Using the standard reductive perturbative technique, a non-linear Schrödinger (NLS) equation is derived that describes the evolution of modulated ion sound envelope excitations. Stability analysis of the NLS equation shows that the ion sound waves remain stable for the flat-topped and kappa-like distributions, but they can become unstable for the spiky electron velocity distribution. It is shown that changing the electron population in regions of low and high phase space density regions results in remarkable features that have no equivalent in ion sound waves with Boltzmannian electrons. Different types of localized ion sound excitations are plotted for the different shapes of the distribution functions controlled by the double spectral indices, and the underlying physics is discussed in detail. The present investigation may be beneficial to understand ion sound excitations in space plasmas where the distribution functions of the shapes presented here are frequently encountered by the satellite missions.     

Electron Kinetics with Attachment and Ionization from Higher Order Solutions of Boltzmann's Equation

An appropriate approach is presented for solving the Boltzmann equation for electron swarms and nonstationary weakly ionized plasmas in the hydrodynamic stage, including ionization and attachment processes. Using a Legendre-polynomial expansion of the electron velocity distribution function the resulting eigenvalue problem has been solved at any even truncation-order. The technique has been used to study velocity distribution, mean collision frequencies, energy transfer rates, nonstationary behaviour and power balance in hydrodynamic stage, of electrons in a model plasma and a plasma of pure SF₆. The calculations have been performed for increasing approximation-orders, up to the converged solution of the problem. In particular, the transition from dominant attachment to prevailing ionization when increasing the field strength has been studied. Finally the establishment of the hydrodynamic stage for a selected case in the model plasma has been investigated by solving the nonstationary, spatially homogeneous Boltzmann equation in twoterm approximation.     

Synchrotron radiation spectrum for galactic-sized plasma filaments

The radiation spectrum for synchrotron-emitting electrons in galactic-sized Birkeland current filaments is analyzed. It is shown that the number of filaments required to thermalize the emission spectrum to blackbody is not reduced when a non-Maxwellian electron distribution is assumed. If the cosmic background radiation (CBR) spectrum (T=2.76 K) is due to absorption and re-emission of radiation from galactic-sized current filaments, higher-order synchrotron modes are not as highly self absorbed as lower-order modes, resulting in a distortion of the blackbody curve at higher frequencies. This is especially true for a non-Maxwellian distribution of electrons for which the emission coefficient at high frequencies is shown to be significantly less than that for a Maxwellian distribution. The deviation of the CBR spectrum in the high-frequency regime may thus be derivable from actual astrophysical parameters, such as filamentary magnetic fields and electron energies in the model     

Local kinetic effects in two-dimensional plasma turbulence

Using direct numerical simulations of a hybrid Vlasov-Maxwell model, kinetic processes are investigated in a two-dimensional turbulent plasma. In the turbulent regime, kinetic effects manifest through a deformation of the ion distribution function. These patterns of non-Maxwellian features are concentrated in space nearby regions of strong magnetic activity: the distribution function is modulated by the magnetic topology, and can elongate along or across the local magnetic field. These results open a new path on the study of kinetic processes such as heating, particle acceleration, and temperature anisotropy, commonly observed in astrophysical and laboratory plasmas.