Self-compression of a plasma column of finite electrical conductivity in an external axial magnetic field

The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of an external magnetic field on the self-compression of a plasma column of finite electrical conductivity. The effect of this axial magnetic field on interesting plasma parameters such as density, hydrodynamic velocity, and ion and electron temperatures is examined. The presence of an external magnetic field leads to higher parameter values and to faster plasma accumulation towards the column axis. A numerical double-step Lax-Wendorff scheme was used in the framework of the two-component MHD-model for a deuterium plasma. (author)