RESEARCH REPORT ON TRANSPORT THEORY FOR MULTI-COMPONENT PLASMA.
Abstract
The behavior of a plasma with several components, i.e. a completely ionised (or binary) plasma and a partially ionised (ternary) plasma is studied. The problem is analysed by means of the Boltzmann and Fokker-Planck equations. The methods used by Enskog-Chapman are generalised for the case of the multi-component gas where the different equations are coupled with each other. In particular the question is studied of what becomes of the collision operators when the plasma is made up of several components. When there is a common equilibrium temperature the Enskog-Chapman approach goes through. When the components have different temperatures a system of eigen-functions of the collision operators cannot be found, but expansions in terms of functions akin to the Sonine-polynomials are possible. Another method is sketched which takes advantage of the different orders of magnitude of the various collisional integrals leading to a coefficient matrix which converts the system of coupled equations into a set of integral equations. The binary case is compared with Braginskii's results. The report discusses possible methods for the computation of transport coefficients when the components are not in thermal equilibrium. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1968
- Accession Number
- AD0677339
Entities
People
- T. Kahan
Organizations
- University of Oxford