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The thickness of a resistive sheath in a magnetic separatrix

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2009

J. D. Kilkenny
Affiliation:
Imperial College, London

Abstract

The formation of an electrostatic double sheath at a magnetic separatrix is described, with particular reference to the polytron. Results are discussed for a collisionless plasma, and for a simple MHD model where the sheath thickness is determined by collisional effects. Expressions are given for the sheath thickness in the polytron. Of more general interest is the result that the formation of a sheath makes the resistance of the plasma to current flow across the separatrix proportional to ωτ, not ω2τ2 as expected for a homogenous magnetic field.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976

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References

REFERENCES

Kilkenny, J. D. 1972 Ph.D. Thesis, London University.Google Scholar
Kilkenny, J. D., Dangor, A. E., & Haines, M. G. 1973 Plasma Phys. 15, 1197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morozov, A. I., Kislov, A. Ya., & Zubkov, I. P. 1968 ZLETF Pisma. 7, 224.Google Scholar
Watkins, M. L., Potter, D. E., Kilkenny, J. D., Haines, M. G., & Dangor, A. E. 1972 Plasma Phys. and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Res. vol. I, p. 621. Vienna: IAEA.Google Scholar