Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-xm8r8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-01T21:04:40.123Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Ambipolar diffusion as a singular perturbation problem

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2009

M. J. Giles
Affiliation:
School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Sussex

Abstract

The effect of a magnetic field on the diffusion of a cylindrical column of ionization, having an initial electron density much greater than that of the ambient weakly ionized plasma in which it is embedded, is examined for the case in which the electron gyro-frequency is much greater than the electron neutral collision frequency Ve. The nonlinear diffusion equations are solved by means of a perturbation expansion based on their exact solution for the case Ve = 0. This approach leads to a singular perturbation problem, and shows that, when the column is not closely aligned with the field the distribution of plasma differs appreciably from that obtained from an ordinary anisotropic diffusion equation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1973

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Haerendel, G. & Scholer, M. 1967 Space Research. vol. 7. (ed. Smith-Rose, R. L.), p. 77. North-Holland.Google Scholar
Gurevich, A. V. 1963 Soviet Phys. JETP 17, 878.Google Scholar
Gurevich, A. V. & Tsedilina, E. E. 1966 Geomag. and Aeronomy, 6, 200.Google Scholar
Gurevich, A. V. & Tsedilina, E. E. 1967 Geomag. and Aeronomy, 7, 527.Google Scholar
Kaiser, T. R. 1967 Proc. IAU Symp. Phys. and Dynam. of Meteors, Tatranska Lomnica, Czechoslovakia.Google Scholar
Kaiser, T. R., Prckering, W. M. & Watkins, C. D. 1969 Planet Space Sci. 17, 1693.Google Scholar
Pickering, W. M. 1972 Planet. Space Sci. 20, 149.Google Scholar
Van Dyke, M. 1964 Perturbation Methods in Fluid Mechanics, Academic.Google Scholar