Signal Propagation in Collisional Plasma with Negative Ions

Kaganovich, I. ; Berezhnoi, S.V. ; Shin, C.B.

Princeton University. Plasma Physics Laboratory.

关键词: Diffusion;    70 Plasma Physics And Fusion Technology;    Electrons;    Ion Density;    Transport;   

DOI  :  10.2172/772260
RP-ID  :  PPPL-3528
RP-ID  :  AC02-76CH03073
RP-ID  :  772260

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

The transport of charged species in collisional currentless plasmas is traditionally thought of as a diffusion-like process. In this paper, it is demonstrated that, in contrast to two-component plasma, containing electrons and positive ions, the transport of additional ions in multi-species plasmas is not governed by diffusion, rather described by nonlinear convection. As a particular example, plasmas with the presence of negative ions have been studied. The velocity of a small perturbation of negative ions was found analytically and validated by numerical simulation. As a result of nonlinear convection, initially smooth ion density profiles break and form strongly inhomogeneous shock-like fronts. These fronts are different from collisionless shocks and shocks in fully ionized plasma. The structure of the fronts has been found analytically and numerically.