Wakes formed by dust grains in supersonically flowing plasmas

Journal Article · Sat Oct 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics (Print)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVE.84.046410· OSTI ID:21612138

Willis, C T. N.; Coppins, M; Bacharis, M ^[1]; Allen, J E ^[1]

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1. Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BW (United Kingdom)

Interesting wake effects are found in simulations of dust grains in supersonically flowing plasma. A Mach cone is formed at an angle to the flow determined by the ratio of flow to Bohm speed. The latter is well approximated by [k(T{sub e}+{gamma}T{sub i})/m{sub i}]{sup 1/2} with {gamma}=3. For ion temperatures significantly lower than the electron temperature, a second (inner) cone forms due to flow convergence. An ''ion vacuum'' and stagnation point occur downstream. These latter effects cannot be described by conventional (cold-ion) gas dynamics. Critically, none of the cones observed are shocks but are more akin to weak discontinuities.

• OSTI ID: 21612138
• Journal Information: Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics (Print), Vol. 84, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.84.046410; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1539-3755
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
CONES
CONVERGENCE
DUSTS
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
ION TEMPERATURE
IONS
PLASMA
SIMULATION
STAGNATION POINT
SUPERSONIC FLOW
VELOCITY
CHARGED PARTICLES
FLUID FLOW