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The importance of ion-electron collisions in ion transport

Author: Jeong-Young Ji
Requested Type: Poster Only
Submitted: 2009-12-04 14:00:14

Co-authors: E.D.Held

Contact Info:
Utah State University
Department of Physics
Logan, UT   84322
USA

Abstract Text:
Studies of ion transport processes, including Braginskii's closure theory, ignore ion-electron collisions based on the argument that their effect is small compared to ion-ion collisions because of the small mass ratio. However, recent analytical calculations [J.-Y. Ji and E. D. Held, Phys. Plasmas 13, 102103 (2006); 15, 102101 (2008)] show that the ion-electron terms must be retained whenever the ion temperature is comparable to or higher than the electron temperature. In this work the ion-electron collision terms and their effect on ion transport are investigated by analytically calculating Braginskii's transport coefficients for the ion heat flow and viscous stress. The ion-electron collision effect reduces the parallel and diamagnetic transport, and enhances the perpendicular transport if the magnetic field strength is larger than a certain value. These effects become more significant as the ion to electron temperature ratio increases.

Research supported by the U.S. DOE under grant Nos. DE-FG02-04ER54746, DE-FC02-04ER54798 and DE-FC02-05ER54812. Work performed in conjunction with the Plasma Science and Innovation (PSI) Center and the Center for Extended MHD Modeling (CEMM).

Characterization: E10

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