Image effects in bounded plasmas

Assuming thermodynamic equilibrium and using the BBGKY hierarchy, the configuration space and number density distributions of electrons and ions in a plasma bounded by a charged, perfectly conducting surface are derived. Modifying the conventional Debye-Hückel approach, the method of images is combined with the use of the Gibbs distribution to obtain new results. It is also shown that the addition of a magnetic field cannot produce any net current if thermodynamic equilibrium is assumed. A drift current is exactly canceled by the current produced by the variation in the number density of particles gyrating about their guiding centers.