On the fast penetration of magnetic field into plasma

Journal Article · Wed Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · Physics of Fluids B; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.860549· OSTI ID:6046118

Kalda, J ^[1]

---

1. Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau, Cedex (France)

The fast penetration of a strong magnetic field into a plasma, caused by the Hall effect, is studied. The phenomenon is likely to govern the early evolution of the magnetic field not only in two-dimensional geometry, to which previous studies were restricted, but also in three dimensions. This penetration mechanism is suppressed, if both the plasma and electrodes are collisionless, [ital v][sub A[ital e]][tau][sub [ital e]][gt][ital a], where [ital v][sub A[ital e]] is the electron Alfven velocity, [tau][sub [ital e]][sup [minus]1] the collision frequency, and [ital a] the characteristic space-scale. However, the collisionless penetration can occur in the case of a resistive cathode. The self-consistent effect of ion motion is shown to be of importance only in a very special geometry. Then the penetration speed is limited by the value [ital V][sub A]([ital a][omega][sub [ital pi]]/[ital c])[sup [minus]1/3], where [ital V][sub A] is the Alfven velocity and [ital c]/[omega][sub [ital pi]] the ion skin depth.

• OSTI ID: 6046118
• Journal Information: Physics of Fluids B; (United States), Journal Name: Physics of Fluids B; (United States) Vol. 5:12; ISSN 0899-8221; ISSN PFBPEI
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700350* -- Plasma Production
Heating
Current Drive
& Interactions-- (1992-)
COLLISIONLESS PLASMA
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
ELECTRODES
EQUIPMENT
HALL EFFECT
ION DENSITY
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PLASMA
PLASMA SWITCHES
SHOCK WAVES
SWITCHES