Published November 26, 2012 | Version v1
Journal article

Quasi-equilibrium electron density along a magnetic field line

  • 1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States)

Description

A methodology is developed to determine the density of high-energy electrons along a magnetic field line for a low-β plasma. This method avoids the expense and statistical noise of traditional particle tracking techniques commonly used for high-energy electrons in bombardment plasma generators. By preserving the magnetic mirror and assuming a mixing timescale, typically the elastic collision frequency with neutrals, a quasi-equilibrium electron distribution can be calculated. Following the transient decay, the analysis shows that both the normalized density and the reduction fraction due to collision converge to a single quasi-equilibrium solution.

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Applied Physics Letters
Journal Volume
101
Journal Issue
22
Journal Page Range
p. 224106-224106.4
ISSN
0003-6951
CODEN
APPLAB

INIS

Country of Publication
United States
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
44048258
Subject category
S71: CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS;
Descriptors DEI
COLLISIONS; DENSITY; DISTRIBUTION; ELECTRON DENSITY; EQUILIBRIUM; EQUIPMENT; MAGNETIC FIELDS; MAGNETIC MIRRORS; MIXING; NOISE; PLASMA DENSITY
Descriptors DEC
OPEN PLASMA DEVICES; PHYSICAL PROPERTIES; THERMONUCLEAR DEVICES

Optional Information

Notes
(c) 2012 American Institute of Physics