Discharge in an accelerator with closed-circuit EperpendicularH drift of isothermal electrons

A theory is derived for the isothermal regime of a discharge with a closed Hall current in the diffusion approximation when the classical transverse mobility is the predominant mechanism for electron transport across the magnetic field. A system of equations is formulated to describe the quasineutral part of the discharge gap, and an analytic solution is found for the system. The system is analyzed approximately for the case of a nonquasineutral sublayer directly adjacent to the anode. The effect of this sublayer is evaluated, and the conditions under which it can be ignored are determined. The relations among the discharge parameters which follow from the theory agree with the experimental results for accelerators with a closed drift circuit, both accelerators with an extended acceleration zone and those with an anode sheath. At sufficiently high values of the flow rate the calculated and experimental values of the discharge current and voltage agree qualitatively