ELECTROMAGNETIC DIFFUSION INTO A CYLINDRICAL PLASMA COLUMN DURING THE EARLY STAGES OF PINCH FORMATION

Technical Report · Mon Jan 16 04:00:00 EST 1961

OSTI ID:4056308

Neuringer, J L; Kraus, L; Malamud, H

The diffusion of electromagnetic energy into a cylindrical plasma column due to the discharge of the energy stored in a capacitor was formulated taking into account the effects of the capacitance and inductance of the discharge circuit. The discharge circuit reflected the linear pinch geometry in that the energy source was a charged condenser and the return lead was a perfectly conducting cylindrical shell concentric with and surrounding the plasma column. Ths plasma properties entered the formulation through an extended Ohm's law which includes ths time rate of change of current density. Under the assumption that changes in the ionization density and collision frequency may be neglected, Maxwell's equations led to a third-order linear partial differential equation for the diffusion current. An exact solution was obtained by Laplace transform techniques using appropriate initial and boundary conditions which take into account the finite external circuitry. The apatial and temporal behavior of the current density distribution as functions of the parametsrs which characterize both the circuit and the plasma are discussed and compared with that of an ordinary conductor obeying the simple Ohm's law. (auth)

• Research Organization: Republic Aviation Corp. Plasma Propulsion Lab., Farmingdale, N.Y.
• NSA Number: NSA-15-015129
• OSTI ID: 4056308
• Report Number(s): PPL-TR-61-1; AFOSR-TN-320
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
CAPACITORS
CIRCUITS
CURRENTS
CYLINDERS
DENSITY
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
DIFFUSION
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRIC DISCHARGES
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
ELECTRICITY
ELECTRODYNAMICS
ELECTROMAGNETISM
ENERGY
INDUCTION
INTERACTIONS
IONIZATION
MATHEMATICS
MAXWELL EQUATIONS
OHM LAW
PHYSICS
PINCH
PLASMA
SHELLS
VARIATIONS