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Anomalous transport coefficients due to the ion-ion two-stream plasma microinstability. Doctoral thesis

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6586671
Improved calculations of the anomalous transport coefficients due to the ion-ion two-stream plasma instability are presented. The coefficients describe the transfer of momentum and energy between the ion species by the electric fields generated by unstable waves. The calculations use electrostatic quasilinear theory in two dimensions to trace the time evolutions of the two ion species. The evolutions are continued until the transport coefficients reach their maximum values. The evolutions are done for homogeneous plasmas with warm ion beams and a single hot electron background distribution. The electrons may or may not be magnetized by a uniform magnetic field perpendicular to the ion streaming motion. The results of the evolutions indicate that a fair amount of momentum transfer from the debris to the air occurs when the relative velocity between them is less than the characteristic wave phase velocity of the plasma, the ion acoustic speed or the Alfven speed (respectively for unmagnetized or magnetized electrons). On the other hand, little transfer occurs when the relative velocity is higher than the characteristic speed.
Research Organization:
Air Force Inst. of Tech., Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (USA). School of Engineering
OSTI ID:
6586671
Report Number(s):
AD-A-056542
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English