Non-Equilibrium Ionization and Magnetohydrodynamic Phenomena

摘要

The present report deals with the interaction between non-equilibrium ionization phenomena in a plasma and the non-uniform flow of that plasma. The phenomenon of non-equilibrium ionization is first analyzed for a stationary plasma in the presence of an electric field. It is then shown that similar phenomena will exist in a moving plasma in the presence of a magnetic field. Based on these concepts the appropriate species equations are derived and combined to yield a single fluid theory of the phenomena in question. By this device it is shown that in general the electrical conductivity may be expressed as a function of the current density. Using this idea and assuming simple functional dependencies the Hartmann flow is solved despite the non-linearity of the problem. Numerical solutions are also obtained when the Hall effect is present. Based on these calculations certain unexpected limitations on the physical parameters of the problem appear. (Author)