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Numerical simulation of plasma double layers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2009

Glenn Joyce
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242
Richard F. Hubbard
Affiliation:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

Abstract

The results of a numerical simulation of a plasma double layer are presented. The model is of a finite, one-dimensional plasma with a specified potential difference across the system. Initially a single pulse is formed which traverses the system with constant velocity. This stage is followed by the formation of a potential drop across a limited region of the plasma. The relation between the spatial extent of the double layer and the potential drop is given approximately by L = 6(edgr;φ/kTe)½. The double layer causes electron and ion beams which tend to lead to instabilities in the upstream and downstream regions.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1978

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References

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