THEORY OF AN ELECTROSTATIC PROBE IN A STRONG MAGNETIC FIELD

Journal Article · Tue Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1961 · Physics of Fluids (U.S.)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1706437· OSTI ID:4006029

Bertotti, B

If the magnetic field is so strong as to impair collective transverse drifts, all the charges supplied to the probe come mainly from a long tube of force, whose section is about one Larmor radius larger tban the probe; while a diffusion process, more efficient than ordinary drifts, continuously exchanges particles between the inside and the rest of the plasma. A one-dimensional model of this process is proposed, leading to an integro-differential Poisson's equation, which has been studied for the case in which the collected particles are very fast. The solution consists of a chargeless, slowly decaying potential which describes the geometrical screening effect of the probe; while in the sheath an approximate boundary-layer solution matches with the probe's potential. (auth)

• Research Organization: Princeton Univ., N.J.
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• NSA Number: NSA-15-026260
• OSTI ID: 4006029
• Report Number(s): MATT-56; 0031-9171
• Journal Information: Physics of Fluids (U.S.), Journal Name: Physics of Fluids (U.S.) Vol. Vol: 4; ISSN PFLDA
• Country of Publication: Country unknown/Code not available
• Language: English

Related Subjects

DIFFUSION
ELECTRIC CHARGES
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
ELECTROSTATICS
ENGINEERING AND EQUIPMENT
FILMS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PARTICLES