SMALL AMPLITUDE WAVES IN A TWO-COMPONENT FULLY IONIZED GAS

Thesis/Dissertation · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1962

OSTI ID:4741573

Dunn, H S

The propagation of small amplitude waves in a twocomponent fully iodized gas is discussed from the point of view of a boundary-value problem, the so- called piston problem.'' The gas is assumed to occupy the half-space x> 0, and to be bounded at x = 0 by a rigid non-conducting wall, the piston.'' It is further assumed that the gas is initially at rest in a state of thermodynamic equilibrium. For t> 0, the piston is given a uniform motion into the gas. It is shown that two wave fronts propagate into the ionized gas, one at the ion sound speed, and the other at the much higher electron sound speed. The wave form changes during the course of propagation as a result of the electrostatic restoring force between the ions and electrons, and also as a result of the inelastic collisions between the two types of particles. When energy exchange between the two gases is neglected, the equations describing the ion-electron gas may be interpreted as the governing equations of a pair of stretched parallel strings coupled to one another by springs and viscous elements. In this mechanical analogue, the displacement of one string corresponds to the ion velocity, and the displacement of the other to the electron velocity. The springs represent the electrostatic restoring force while the viscous elements correspond to the effects of the inelastic ion-electron collisions. (M.P.G.)

• Research Organization: Originating Research Org. not identified
• NSA Number: NSA-17-017389
• OSTI ID: 4741573
• Country of Publication: Country unknown/Code not available
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTRONS
ELECTROSTATICS
ENERGY
EQUATIONS
GASES
INTERACTIONS
IONIZATION
IONS
MOTION
NUMERICALS
PHYSICS
PLASMA
PLASMA WAVES
SOUND
SURFACES
THERMODYNAMICS
VELOCITY