An Introduction to Plasma Physics

and its Space Applications

Dr. L. Conde
Department of Applied Physics
ETS Ingenieros Aeronuticos
Universidad Politcnica de Madrid

March 5, 2014
These notes are not intended to replace any of the excellent textbooks (as Refs.
[1, 2, 3, 4, 7] ) cited in the bibliography, but to free to those attending this course
of the thankless task of taking notes. The reader will find that are a very prelim-
inary version that is far from being concluded. Some citations in the text to the
references are still incomplete and the english requires of a major revision. I am
responsible for all errors and/or omissions.

I took the liberty of borrowing some original figures and graphs from cited refer-
ences to illustrate certain points. Also to allow to these students the calculations of
relevant quantities using actual experimental data. Additionally, I also make use
of two photographs of a solar eclipse from NASA that I found in the Wikipedia
article on the solar chromosphere. My thanks to the authors for sharing these
materials as well as for their unintentional collaboration.

L. Conde
 Contents

1 Introduction 1
1.1 Ionized gases and plasmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Properties of plasmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 The ideal Maxwellian plasma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.4 The Maxwellian plasma under an external electric field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.5 The plasma parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.5.1 The Debye length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.5.2 The plasma frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.5.3 The plasma and coupling parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.6 Magnetized plasmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

2 The plasmas in space and in the laboratory. 15

2.1 The plasma state of condensed matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2 Plasmas in astrophysics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.3 Geophysical plasmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.4 Laboratory plasmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

3 Bibliography, texbooks and references 22

3.1 Textbooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.2 Bibliography on space plasmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.3 References on gas discharge physics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.4 Additional material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

4 The elementary processes and the plasma equilibrium 25

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4.1 The collision cross section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

4.2 The total and differential cross sections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.3 Cross section and impact parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.4 The atomic collisions in plasmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.4.1 The electron collisions with neutrals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
[Link] The elastic collisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
[Link] Inelastic collisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.4.2 Ion collisions with neutrals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.4.3 Photoprocesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.4.4 The collisions of charged particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
[Link] The electron and ion recombination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
[Link] The Coulomb collisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.5 Numerical estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.6 The equilibrium states of a plasma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.6.1 Multithermal equilibrium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.6.2 The local equilibrium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

5 The physical models for plasmas 47

5.1 The kinetic description of plasmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5.1.1 The Boltzmann collision integral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5.2 The transport fluid equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
5.2.1 The averages of the distribution function. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5.2.2 The equation of continuity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
5.2.3 The momentum transport equation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
5.2.4 The energy transport equation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5.2.5 The closure of the fluid transport equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
5.2.6 The friction coefficients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
[Link] Elastic collisions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
[Link] Ionizing collisions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

6 The boundaries of plasmas: the plasma sheaths. 70

6.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
6.2 The collisionless electrostatic plasma sheath. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
6.2.1 Bohm Criterion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.2.2 Child-Langmuir current. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

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 Introduction
1
1.1 Ionized gases and plasmas

In essence, a plasma is a gas where a fraction of its atoms or molecules are ionized. This
mixture of free electrons, ions and neutral gas atoms ( = i, e, a) is denominated a fully
ionized plasma when all neutral gas atoms are ionized and partially ionized otherwise.
In the thermodynamic equilibrium of a gas its atoms have a Maxwell Boltzmann velocity
distribution determined by the temperature T of the system. This latter is usually expressed
in units of energy kB T in Plasma Physics. In these conditions, the average velocity of these
neutral particles is,

 1/2
8 kB T
Va,T h =
ma

Then, for growing temperatures the kinetic energy of an increasing fraction of the atoms lies
over the ionization threshold EI of the the neutral gas. The collisions of these energetic
particles may produce the ionization of a neutral gas atom. Consequently, the degree of
ionization and the thermal temperature of the neutral gas are closely related magnitudes.
This is why the plasma state is frequently associated with high temperature gases, because
they reach an equilibrium state where its atoms become fully or partially ionized.
Nevertheless, the detailed derivation of the explicit relation between the equilibrium tem-
perature T and the ionization degree of a gas will not be carried out here. The classical result
is the Saha equation,

ne ni
' 2.4 1021 T 3/2 exp(EI /kb T )
na

where ne , ni and na respectively are the number of electrons, ions and neutral atoms per
volume unit.
However, the above expression predicts very low ionization degrees even for high temper-
atures. Therefore, the thermodinamic equilibrium of partially ionized gases only take place
for extremely high temperatures. This restrictive condition is seldom found in nature and

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most plasmas in nature and in the laboratory are physical systems far from thermodynamic
equilibrium. The energy is lost by different physical mechanisms as the emission of visible
light, electric current transport, ...etc. These energy losses are sustained by external energy
contributions as external radiation, electromagnetic fields, ... etc.

1.2 Properties of plasmas

More precisely, the plasma state of matter 1 can be defined as the mixture of positively charged
ions, electrons and neutral atoms which constitutes a macroscopic electrically neutral medium
that responds to the electric and magnetic fields in a collective mode. These physical systems
have the following general properties:

The charged particles interact through long distance electromagnetic forces and the
number of positive and negative charges is equal, so that the medium is electrically
neutral.
In the following, the electromagnetic interaction will be regarded as instantaneous, we
will not cope with relativistic effects. The electromagnetic forces experienced by charged
particles can be approximated by the Lorentz force.

A particular feature of plasmas is the collective re-

0.6 sponse to external perturbations. In ordinary gases,
the fluctuations of the pressure, energy, ...etc. are
propagated by collisions between the neutral atoms.
kBT = 1.0 eV
0.4 This requires the close approach of the colliding par-
kBT = 1.5 eV
g(E) kBT = 2.0 eV ticles. In addition to this short scale interaction, the
long range electromagnetic forces in plasmas also prop-
0.2 agate the perturbations affecting the motion of large
number of ions and electrons. Therefore, the response
to the perturbations of electromagnetic fields is col-
0.0
lective, involving huge numbers of charged particles.
0 4 8
Energy (eV) Obviously, the multicomponent plasmas are consti-
tuted by a mixture of different kinds of atoms. Addi-
Figure 1.1: The Maxwell Boltzmann tionally, the dusty plasmas also include charged solid
energy distribution function g(E) for microparticles. The large mass and electric charge ac-
different temperatures kB T . quired by these dust grains introduce new properties
in these physical systems.
For simplicity, we will limit in the following to one component classical plasmas composed
by electrons and single charged ions.

1.3 The ideal Maxwellian plasma

Let us briefly recall some properties of the equilibrium Maxwell Boltzmann energy distribution
for a neutral gas composed by a single kind of atoms with mass m. It may be shown that this
1
Note that such statement is frequently, used but is somehow misleading because the different states of
condensed matter may be found in thermodynamic equilibrium.

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

distribution describes a gas in the thermodynamic equilibrium state at the temperature kB T .

This distribution may be expressed as,

m m v2
f (v) = ( )3/2 exp ( ) (1.1)
2kB T 2kB T
where v is the particle velocity. This velocity distribution only depends on v = |v| and the
integral over all possible velocities gives,
Z + Z +
f (v) dv = f (v) (4 v 2 ) dv = 1

In the equilibrium the number no number of particles by unit volume is uniform and,
Z +
no f (v) dv = no

Therefore dn = no f (v) dv represents the density of particles with velocities between v and
v + d v. Equivalently, dP = f (v) dv is the probability of finding a particle with this velocity
range by volume unit. Using the particle kinetic energy E = mv 2 /2 in the Eq. (1.1) and
integrating,

2 E
Z
g(E) dE = 1 where, g(E) = eE/kB T (1.2)
0 (kB T )3/2

This energy distribution function g(E) is equivalent to f (v) in Eq. (1.1) and is represented
in Fig. (1.1) for different temperatures kB T .
As is evidenced in Fig. (1.1), the distribution becomes broader as the temperature increases
and dn = no g(E) dE represents the number of particles with kinetic energy between E and
E +dE. The broadening of Fig. (1.1) shows the increment in the number of energetic particles
for increasing kB T .
The physical magnitudes are obtained from the equilibrium distributions (1.1) and (1.2)
as averages. The kinetic energy by particle is ei is,

+
1 1 1 1 1 3
Z Z
ei =< mv 2 >= f (v) ( mv 2 ) dv = f (v) ( mv 2 ) (4 v 2 ) dv = kB T
2 no 2 no 0 2 2

and the internal energy of this monoatomic gas is therefore Ei = no ei . Note in Fig. (1.1) hat
while its maximum value is emax = kB T /2 the average kinetic energy by particle ec = 3 kB T /2
is slightly higher.
Other different average speeds are currentlypdefined for the Maxwell Boltzmann distribu-
tion function. As the thermal velocity, vT h = 2kB T /m which may be used to rewrite Eq.
(1.1) as,

1 2 2


f (v) = ( 3
) exp v /v T h
3/2 vT h

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The average speed is defined as v =< |v| > and,

Plasma
+ 1/2


8kB T
Z
v =< v v >= f (v) v (4 v 2 ) dv =
0 m (x)
(1.3)
Since the Maxwell Boltzmann distribution only de-
Ions Electrons
pends on |v| the average along a fixed direction,

< vx >=< vy >=< vz >= 0 X

Distance

This reflects the fact that in the equilibrium of an ideal

Figure 1.2: Polarization of a plasma
gas there is no privileged direction for the particle
cloud under an external electric field
speed. On the contrary, the average,
E = (x).
 1/2
2kB T 1
< |vx | >= = v
m 2
represents the average speed of particles crossing an imaginary plane drawn perpendicular to
the x direction within the gas bulk. The random flux of particles crossing such surface is,
1 1
= n < |vx | >= no v
2 4
where the factor 1/2 accounts for the two possible directions of incident particles.
As for neutral gases, the Maxwell Boltzmann distributions (1.2) and (1.2) may be used to
describe the thermodynamic equilibrium state of an ideal plasma 2 . This physical situation is
roughly characterized by:

1. The energy distribution function of each specie (ions electrons and neutral atoms) is a
Maxwellian with a common kinetic temperature kB T for all species. This latter is also
the temperature of the thermodynamic equilibrium state of the plasma.
2. In order to preserve the bulk electric charge neutrality, the ion and electron volume densi-
ties nio ' neo = no are equals. This property is denominated the plasma quasineutrality
and results in a negligible electric field E ' 0 in the plasma bulk.
3. The plasma potential (r) ' o is therefore uniform in space, so that no currents nor
transport of particles takes place in a Maxwellian plasma.
4. The kinetic temperatures kB T are also uniform in space and are usually expressed in
energy units. They are currently measured in electron volts (eV ) in Plasma Physics
because of the large energies involved (1 eV = 11,605 K).

A rising temperature increments the average kinetic energy and the energy distribution
function becomes wider as shown in Fig. (1.1). The limit kB T = 0 for a cold plasma corre-
2
The use of the term ideal should be remarked. The requisites for the thermodynamic equilibrium of a plasma
are extremely restrictive and plasmas essentially in stationary states far from the thermodynamic equilibrium.

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

sponds to a monoenergetic particle population and its energy distribution could be approxi-
mated by a Dirac delta function. In this case, all particles have exactly the same velocity and
there is no energy spread around a mean value, contrary to the case kB T 6= 0 corresponding
to a finite temperature plasma.
Therefore, in the ideal plasma in thermodynamic equilibrium the kinetic temperature kB T
is the same for all species, while the electron and ion thermal speeds differ,
p p p
ve,T h = 2 kB T /me and, vi,T h = 2 kB T /mi = ve,T h me /mi
The ion velocity vi,T h is lower than the electron thermal speed, because of their different
masses. As we will see later, when the plasma is far from thermodinamic equilibrium the
temperatures of the species kB Te are also different and is frequently found that kB Ti  kB Te .

1.4 The Maxwellian plasma under an external electric field

In order to introduce some basic prop-
erties we will consider an ideal, fully ion-
ized plasma of ion and electrons. The ini- 2.0 2.0 eV 2.0

Electric potential (x) (Volts)

kBT = 1.0 eV
Particle densities n(x) / no

tial charged particle densities nio , neo and kBT = 1.0 eV

temperature kB T are constant in time and
2.0 eV
uniform in space.
This initial equilibrium is perturbed by 1.0 5.0 eV 5.0 eV 1.0
an external 3 , one dimensional electric field
E = (r). After reaching an station- ne(x)
(x)
ary state, both charged species separate as ni(x)
shown in Fig. (1.2). The electrons (blue 0.0 0.0
Electric potential
dots) are attracted towards the high poten- profile
tial side whereas the ions (red dots) move on 1.0 0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0
the opposite direction.
Distance
The disturbance introduced by the elec-
tric potential profile (x) brings the plasma Figure 1.3: The applied electric potential (x),
out of equilibrium and produces a one di- electron ne (x) and ion ni (x) densities as a func-
mensional spatial profile of the electron ne (x) tion of the distance X.
and ion ni (x) densities. However, the strength of this external electric field is not too strong,
so that the charge separation along the plasma potential profile (x) is not complete. The
electrostatic energy ( e (x)) is of the same order than the thermal energy ( kB T ) of ions
and electrons and therefore both charge species coexist along the spatial profile (x).
In these conditions the energy of each charged particle ( = i, e) is E = m v 2 /2 +q (r)
where q = e and the Maxwellian energy distribution (Eq. 1.1) for each specie is,

m v2 + 2 q (r)
 
m 1/2
f (v) = ( ) exp (1.4)
2kB T 2kB T
Integrating over v we obtain for ions,
3
This point is emphasized because this potential profile (x) is essentially produced by an external electric
field, the contribution of charged particles is neglected.

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e (x)
ni (x) = nio exp ( ) (1.5)
kB T

and for electrons,

e (x)
ne (x) = neo exp ( ) (1.6)
kB T

In Fig. (1.3) are represented the plasma potential profile (x) (black solid line, right axis
between -0.5 V and 1.5 V) and the corresponding densities of charged particles given by Eqs.
(1.5) and (1.6), which reproduces the situation depicted in the scheme of Fig. (1.2).

Since the values for (x) in Fig. (1.3) are moderate and similar to the plasma temperatures
kB T ' 1-5 eV both charged species coexist in the range 1 x 1. The electron densities
ne (x)(blue curves) increase for (x) < 0 (x < 0) when kB T grows and the same effect takes
place for ions for (x) > 0 (x > 0).

The electron densities ne (x) (blue curves) dominate for positive potentials (x > 0 and
(x) > 0) where ions are rejected whereas the opposite situation occurs for x < 0 where
(x) < 0. At the point x = 0 the electric potential is null and the Eqs. (1.5) and (1.6)
recover the equilibrium particle densities neo = nio . In the figure (1.3) the spatial profiles for
electrons and ions are not equivalent with respect to the vertical dashed line at x = 0 because
the electric potential (x) is asymmetric.

This increment of ne (x) for x < 0 (equivalently, ni (x) for x > 0) with the plasma temper-
ature takes place because the Maxwellian electron (ion) energy distribution ge (E) (for ions
gi (E)) becomes broader when kB T grows as shows the Fig. (1.1). For points close to x ' 0.5
an increasing fraction of electrons have enough thermal energy to overcome the electrostatic
potential energy e (x). The situation is similar for the ions at the point x ' 0.5.

ni
In the case of a cold plasma kB T ' 0 the charged particles
have no thermal energy. They only move under the external
ne
electric field and both species separate in space. On the con-
trary, in a finite temperature plasma (kB T >0) and despite the
charged particle is rejected when q (x) < 0, a fraction of
EX EX them have thermal energy enough to jump the electric potential
+
barrier. For finite temperatures the thermal energy competes
with the magnitude of the electrostatic energy of the plasma
X electric potential profile.

Figure 1.4: The space fluc- The thermal energy of charged particles considered in Eqs.
tuation of the electron ne (x) (1.5) and (1.6) brings a relevant property of plasmas: Their
and ion ni (x) densities pro- ability to shield out the electromagnetic perturbations. When
duce a local electric field Ex moderate electric fields are externally applied or low amplitude
in the plasma. electric fluctuations occur in the plasma bulk, the thermal mo-
tion of charged particles shields the perturbations as in Fig.

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

(1.3) by electrons and ions with energy enough to overcome the potential barrier.

1.5 The plasma parameters

The physical description of a plasma requires of a characteristic time and length scales and
additionally, a minimum number of charged particles by unit volume. These parameters are
related with the attenuation of the small amplitude fluctuations of the equilibrium state of
the plasma.
As indicated in Fig. (1.4), when an small charge fluctuation q = e (ni ne ) occurs
in a plasma in equilibrium, the local positive and negative charged particle densities ni (x)
and ni (x) become slightly different along the perturbation length X. This departure from
quasineutrality produces an intense electric field in the plasma bulk that moves the charged
particles. In the absence of other forces, the motion of charges in the plasma tends to cancel
the perturbation and to restore the local electric neutrality as the Fig. (1.4) suggests.
The space fluctuations are damped out along a characteristic distance D denominated Debye
length. This characteristic distance might be also understood as the length scale along the
spatial average of electric charge in the plasma is cancelled. Only longitudes L > D over the
Debye length are usually considered in Plasma Physics because for distances below L < D
the electric fields are local, very variable and they are regarded as microscopic.
By other hand, the damping of the charge fluctuations takes place during a time scale
pe which defines the electron plasma frequency fpe = 1/pe . The minimum time of response
against local time dependent fluctuations corresponds to the faster particles (electrons) and
turns to be the shortest time scale possible in the plasma.
Finally, the electric charge shielding processes in the plasma bulk require of a number of
free charges to cancel the fluctuations of the local electric field. So we need to have a minimum
density of charged particles and this determines the so called plasma parameter 4 . In the Table
(1.1) are compared the typical values and magnitudes for different plasmas in nature and in
the laboratory.

1.5.1 The Debye length

We consider again a quasineutral (ne = ni = no ) plasma where a small plasma potential

fluctuation (r) is produced by the electric charge ext = q (r), where (r) is the Dirac
delta function. Thus, q only introduces small changes in the electric potential (r)  1 close
to the origin r = 0.
The electric charge fluctuations becomes,

sp = e [ni (r) ne (r)]

and therefore, the locally perturbed charge density is,

= ext + sp = q (r) + e [ni (r) ne (r)]

4
Useful expressions for the characteristic length, time and plasma parameter are summarized in Table (1.2).

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We left open in this case the possibility of having different temperatures for electrons kB Te
and for ions kB Ti 5 . However, we assume that the electric potential fluctuation introduced
by the charge disturbance q is small when compared with the thermal energies of charged
particles |e (r)/kB T |  1 (with = e, i). Then, we may approximate the Eqs. (1.5) and
(1.6) by,

 
e (r)
1 n (r) ' no 1 (1.7)
Plasma Potential (r)

exp(r/D ) kB T
r Substituting in the Poisson equation,
1
q e
4o D e2 no e2 no
 
1
2 = = ext + (r) + (r)
o o kB Ti kB Te
For the plasma potential fluctuations (r) we obtain,

Radial distance r  
D 2 1 q 1 1 1
2 (r) = (r) where, 2 = 2 + 2
D o D Di De

Figure 1.5: Exponential damp- The characteristic lengths Di and De respectively are the
ing for the space fluctuations of ion and electron Debye lengths,
(x) along distances in the order r r
of D . o kB Ti o kB Te
Di = 2
, De =
e no e2 no
and both have units of distance. Assuming spherical symmetry the plasma potential (r) is
the solution of the differential equation,

2 2 q
2
+ 2 = (r)
r r r D o
Then, introducing, (r) = a f (r)/r where a is constant,

d2 f
 
a 1 q
2
2 f = (r)
r dr D o
Therefore, for r > 0 a > 0 this equation reduces to,

d2 f 1
2
2 f = 0 with solutions f (r) = exp( r/D )
dr D
The solution proportional to exp(r/D ) is unphysical because the spatial perturbations would
be amplified in this case. In order to recover the potential for a point charge when r/D  1.
we have a = q/(4o ). Finally, the electric potential for r > 0 is,

q er/D
(r) =
4o r
5
As we shall see, this is a frequent situation in nonequilibrium laboratory plasmas

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

As shown in Fig. (1.5) the perturbation introduced in the plasma potential exponentially
decays along the distance at a rate 1/D . Equivalently, the local charge perturbation q
becomes shielded out by a cloud of opposite charge with a radius proportional to D .
The electron and ion Debye lengths measure the contri-
Ions Electrons
= e no X
bution of each charged specie to this shielding and are only
Equilibrum =0
equals when kB Te = kB Ti . Because of electron temperature is
usually higher kB Te  kB Ti the electron Debye length is then
larger and is often considered as the plasma Debye length.
The Debye length considers the thermal effect, and relies
on the charged particle temperatures kB T and density no of
the plasma. The Debye shielding is more efficient for rising
plasma densities no whereas a growing thermal energy kB T
D X
enlarges the region perturbed by the charge fluctuation q.
The Debye shielding is realistic when the magnitude of the
Figure 1.6: The electric field perturbation introduced by the electric charge q is moderate.
produced by a fluctuation of the When | q /kB T | > 1 additional terms needs to be considered
local charge density along the in the power expansion of Eq. (1.7) for n (r) and hence, the
distance X. Poisson equation becomes nonlinear and the above approxi-
mation is no longer valid. Under these conditions, intense electric fields might develop in the
plasma volume extended over many Debye lengths, as well as complex plasma structures as
are the denominated plasma double layers.
These structures are shown in Fig. (2.5) and are composed of different concentric plasma
shells separated by abrupt changes in luminosity. These boundaries corresponds to plasma
potential jumps (double layers) separating the different plasmas of the structure

1.5.2 The plasma frequency

The shorter time scale of the plasma response to time dependent external perturbations is
related the fast oscillations of electrons around the heavy ions. This process is illustrated in
Figs. (1.4), (1.6) and (1.7) in one dimension where are shown the local departures from the
equilibrium electric neutrality (quasineutrality) of an ideal plasma along the small distance
s = X.
These deviations takes place in Fig. (1.7) along an infinite plane perpendicular to the
X direction. This produces the electric field Ex that is calculated as shown in Fig. (1.7),
where the negative charge of electrons Q = e no A x is within the pillbox of area A and
x of height. The electric field in the plasma bulk at the bottom of the pillbox is null
(neo = nio and hence E = 0) as well as the components of E parallel to the plane. We have
A Ex = e no A x/o by using the Gauss theorem and therefore,

e
Ex = no X
o
The equation of motion for the electrons inside the upper pillbox results,

d2 e d2 X e no
me 2
X = no X hence, 2
+ X = 0
dt o dt me o

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Escuela de Ingeniera Aeronutica y del Espacio Universidad Politcnica de Madrid

and therefore the electrons perform harmonic oscillations with frequency,

s
no e2 Ex
pe = A
Ions
me o
X
Electrons

The electrons oscillate around the ions with a fre-

quency pe which is called electron plasma frequency n
n i=n e= o
fpe = pe /(2) 6 . Similar arguments apply for ions Plasma
and the ion plasma frequency fpi is also defined for
the positive charges. The ratio between the electron
Figure 1.7: The electric field Ez pro-
and ion frequencies is,
duced by a small local charge fluctua-
r tion along the small distance X.
me
fpi = fpe  fpe
mi
and fpe is usually called plasma frequency. It should be underlined that both ion and electron
plasma frequencies only rely on the equilibrium charged particle density no and are indepen-
dent on the temperature kB T of the charged particle species.
The electron plasma frequency provides the shortest time scale pe = 1/fpe for the propa-
gation of perturbations in the plasma. So that, the motion of ions could be regarded as frozen
when compared with the faster electron motion over the time scale pe > > pi = 1/fpi .
The frequency fpe determines the fast time scale of the plasma, where the lighter particles
(electrons) respond to the time dependent fluctuations of the local electric field.
We may also interpret the time scale associated to the plasma
p frequency pe as proportional
to the time that a thermal electron (with velocity VT e = 2kB Te /me ) travels along a Debye
length,
 1/2
1 D o me 1
pe = ' ' =
fpe VT e 2 ne e2 2 fpe

1.5.3 The plasma and coupling parameters

Finally, in order to shield out the perturbations of the electric field an ideal plasma requires
of a number of electric charges inside an sphere with radius of a Debye length. This defines
the electron plasma parameter as,

4
3De
NDe = ne
3
as well as the equivalent definition of NDi for ions. The collective behavior of plasmas requires a
large number of charged particles and then NDe 1, otherwise the Debye shielding would no be
an statistically valid concept. Usually NDe  NDi because the ion and electron temperatures
frequently are kB Te  kB Ti and therefore De  Di .
The plasma parameter is also related with the coupling parameter = Eel /Eth which
compares the electrostatic potential energy of nearest neighbors Eel with the thermal energy
Eth kB T . The potential energy of two repelling charged particles ( = e, i) is,
6
Sometimes pe is also called Langmuir frequency as in Ref. [2].

10
Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

1 e2
E(r, v ) = m v2
2 4o r

Their minimum distance of approach rc (see Fig. 1.8) takes

p E(rc , v ) = 0 and using the thermal speed
place when
vT = 2kB T /m of the equilibrium plasma we have on
rc
average,
U(r)
rc e2
rc =
4o kb T

r The coupling parameter is the ratio between rc and the

average separation rd between particles provided by the
1/3
plasma density rd no ,

U(rc) = Ek rc e 2 no
1/3
< Eel >
= =
rd 4o kB T < Eth >

Respectively we have,

Figure 1.8: The minimum dis- e2

tance of approach rc between two < Eel > and, < Eth > kB T
4 o rd
repelling charged particles.
for the average electrostatic and thermal energies. When
= rc /rd is large, the electric interaction dominates and the kinetic energies are small com-
pared with the electrostatic energy of particles. The relation with the plasma parameter is
found by,

1/3
e 2 no 1 no e 2 1 no e 2 1 1
= = no1/3 = no2/3 =
4 o kB T 4 4 o kB T 4 4 o kB T 4 [no 3D ]2/3

We might introduce the number ND no 3D proportional to the number of charged particles

contained into an sphere of radius D and results,

1 1 1 1
3 2/3

4 (no D ) 4 N 2/3
D

The coupling parameter is large in a strongly coupled plasma where ND  1 and the Debye
sphere is scarcely populated. In the opposite case of a weakly coupled  1 we have ND  1
and a large number of particles are contained within the Debye sphere.
An alternative way to understand the meaning of the plasma parameter the ratio |e /kB T |
already employed in Eqs. (1.5) and (1.6). Since the average distance between two repelling
1/3
plasma particles is rd no and the electric potential (rd ) = e/(4 o rd ) we have,

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Escuela de Ingeniera Aeronutica y del Espacio Universidad Politcnica de Madrid

Plasma no kB T fpe De ND

Fusion reactor 1015 104 3.0 1011 2.4 103 1.45 104 5.4 107
Laser plasmas 1020 102 9.0 1013 7.4 107 0.67 1.7 102

Glow discharge 108 2 9.0 107 0.1 3.0 103 5 105

Arc discharge 1014 1 9.0 1010 8.0 105 0.67 1.7 102

Earth ionosphere 106 5 102 9.0 106 0.2 2.9 102 2.0 104
Solar corona 106 102 9.0 106 7.4 1.45 105 1.7 109
Solar atmosphere 1014 1 9.0 1010 7.4 105 0.67 1.7 102
Interestelar plasma 1 1 9.0 103 740 1.45 105 1.7 109

Table 1.1: Typical values of plasma densities no in cm3 , the temperatures kB Te are in eV,
the plasma frequencies fpe in s1 while the electron Debye lengths De are in cm. The plasma
parameter is dimensionless and ND is the number of charges contained into a Debye sphere.

e e2 1 1 e2 1 1 1 1
= = no1/3 =
kB T 4 o rd kB T 4 o kB T 4 [no 3D ]2/3 4 N 2/3
D

The amount of charges contained within a sphere of radius D , or equivalently, the value
of ND , has to be high if the approximation previously used to derive the Debye length was
correct.
As we see, strongly coupled plasmas are dense and cold while weakly coupled plasmas are
more diffuse and warm. The ideal Maxwellian plasmas are weakly coupled and a large number
of charged particles are affected by fluctuations with typical lengths over the Debye length.

1.6 Magnetized plasmas

In magnetized plasmas the local magnetic field is high enough to alter the trajectories of the
charged particles. In the nonrelativistic approximation the charges q ( = e, i) in the plasma
are accelerated by the Lorentz force,

F = q n (E + vq B)

in the frame of reference where the magnetic field lines of B remains at rest. Note that in a
magnetized plasma moving with speed vq the electric field E = vq B is not affected by
the Debye screening and is null the frame that moves with the plasma bulk.
The force experienced by the charges in a magnetized plasma is zero in the direction
parallel to B while along the perpendicular direction the charges make circular orbits with a
ciclotron frequency or girofrequency,

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

q B
=
m
The Larmor radius or giroradius of a charged particle is the ratio between the component
of the velocity v perpendicular to the magnetic file lines and the girofrequency ,

v
Rl =

p
This magnitude is estimated using l where v the particle thermal speed VT, = 2kB T /m
is employed in place of v and then,
r
VT me
l = and therefore, le = lli
mi

Therefore, the plasma is said magnetized when l is comparable with the relevant length scale
L and unmagnetized otherwise. In accordance to the magnitude of B we found situations
where le /L 1 while li /L  1 so that electrons are magnetized while ions are not. However,
when we refer to a magnetized plasma we usually mean that both species, ions and electrons
are magnetized.

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Definition Expression
Velocities
p
Electron thermal VT e = 8 kB Te / me VT e = 6.71 107 kB Te cm/s
p p
Ion thermal VT i = 8 kB Ti / mi VT i = 1.56 106 kB Ti /A cm/s
p
Electron with energy E Ve = 2 E/me Ve = 5.9 107 E cm/s
p
Ion sound speed Cis = 2 kB Te /mi Cis = 1.54 105 kB Te cm/s

Plasma parameters
p p
Debye length D = o kB Te /e2 ne D = 740 kB Te /ne cm
p
Electron plasma frequency pe = ne e2 /o me fpe = 9.0 103 ne Hz
p
Ion plasma frequency pi = ni e2 /o mi fpi = 4.9 A ni Hz

Larmor radius for electrons le = VT e /e le = 2.38 kB Te / B cm
p
Larmor radius for ions li = VT i /i li = 4.38 103 ( kB Ti /A) / B cm
Plasma parameter = 1/(4 2D n2/3 ) = 1.45 105 (n1/3 /kB Te ) cm
4
ND ND = 3 n 3D ND = 1.7 109 (kB T )3/2 / n

Collisions

Mean free path. pb = 1/(pb nb ) See section 4.1 in page 26.

Collision frequency pb = pb nb Vpb See section 4.1 in page 26.

Table 1.2: The results are in CGS units except the energies and temperatures (kB Te , kB Ti )
that are in electron volts, A is the atomic number. The collision cross section is pb and Vpb the
relative speed of colliding species.

14
 The plasmas in space and in the laboratory.
2
2.1 The plasma state of condensed matter

The physical parameters introduced before allow us to refine the early definition of the plasma
state of matter of page 2. The Debye length D introduced before provides the physical length
scale for a plasma, and an upper bound for the plasma time scale = fpe1 is introduced by the

electron plasma frequency. The collective plasma response requires of a critical number den-
sity of charged particles introduced by the plasma parameter ND . Additionally, the coupling
parameter compares the thermal and electrostatic energies. In Table (1.2) are summa-
rized these previous definitions of the different plasma parameters as well as their shorthand
expressions. In first place let us summarize the main characteristics of classical plasmas.

The plasma is an electrically neutral medium. The average charge density is null over
macroscopic volumes with typical sizes larger than 3D . This requires an average equal
number of positive and negative densities of charged particles inside a Debye sphere.

The typical longitudes L considered will be always are larger than the Debye length
L  D . Therefore, the characteristic distances Lsh for the Debye electric shielding are
Lsh ' D  L are also smaller L  Lsh .

The number of electrons (and ions) ND contained within a sphere of radius D must
be large enough to allow the Debye shielding the internal and external low amplitude
fluctuations of electromagnetic fields.

In accordance to the magnitude of the magnetic field, the plasmas are classified as
magnetized or unmagnetized. In magnetized plasmas the Larmor radius Rl of electrons
(or ions) is smaller than the characteristic distance L < Rl .

The plasmas are frequently produced by the partial ionization of a neutral gas. In ac-
cordance to the ionization degree the plasmas are termed as fully ionized when the neutral
atom densities na are negligible compared with the charged particle densities na , ne  na and
partially ionized otherwise. In weakly ionized plasmas the neutral atom densities na , ne  na
are larger than those of charged particles.

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Escuela de Ingeniera Aeronutica y del Espacio Universidad Politcnica de Madrid

25 3
no 4 D < 1 i-i
3 > 1 cm
e-e
H 2O
Air (STP) Laser
20 Focus

Shock

Theratrons
High Tubes
Pressure
Log (n) cm-3

Arcs
Fusion
15 Reactor
Plasmas
Alkaline

Low
Metal

Pressure Fusion
Plasmas Experiments
10
Discharge
Flames Tubes
Ionosphere

Solar
D>1 cm
5 Corona

Interplanetary
Plasma
Solar
Wind
0
-2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
Log (kBT) eV

Figure 2.1: The characteristic densities and temperatures of different plasmas in nature and
produced in the laboratory.

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

Since only Coulomb collisions between charged particles are relevant in fully ionized plas-
mas, the collisional processes with neutral atoms introduce additional features.

Partially ionized plasmas are said collisional when the mean free path  L for the
relevant collisional processes are much smaller than the dimensions L of the medium.

The elastic and inelastic collisions between neutrals and charged particles in collisional
plasmas give rise to a large number of physical processes as ionization, light emission,
...etc.

The plasmas can be roughly characterized by its kinetic temperature kB T and charged
particle density density n. In Fig. (2.1) are classified a number of those found in nature and
also produced in the laboratory. As we can see, the possible values for the particle densities in
this figure covers twenty orders of magnitude (from 1 up to 1025 charges by cubic centimeter).
The corresponding temperature range is extended along seven orders of magnitude (from 102
up to 105 eV ).
In order to grasp the huge extent of these scales it would be enough to introduce in the
diagram of Fig. (2.1) the point corresponding to the water at room temperature n ' 2.11022
cm3 , and for the ordinary air; the Loschmidt number n ' 2.71019 cm3 at STP conditions.
The particle densities of air and liquid water only differ by a factor 103 . Between the ordinary
water and the density of a white dwarf star this factor raises up to 1015 , much shorter than
the plasma density range of Fig. (2.1).

2.2 Plasmas in astrophysics

The cold kB T = 102 101 eV interestellar plasma has a very low density of 105 cm3
and does not appear in Fig. (2.1). This concentration as low as 0.1 charged particle by cubic
meter leads Debye lengths in the order of 8 meters, that are used to scale the plasma equations.
Thus, because of the huge distances involved the equations of magnetohidrodynamics could
still be used to describe the plasma transport over galactic distances.

Figure 2.2: The Sun chromosphere observed during an eclipse

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Escuela de Ingeniera Aeronutica y del Espacio Universidad Politcnica de Madrid

The plasma inside the Sun core where thermonuclear reactions take place has an estimated
temperature about kB T = 105 eV and the densities are n 1025 . At the solar corona the
temperature decreases down to kB T = 10 102 eV and the density n 105 decreases about
15 orders of magnitude over the surface of the Sun.
The stellar atmospheres are constituted by a gases hot enough to be fully ionized and the
plasma at the Sun chromosphere could be observed during solar eclipses as in Fig. (2.2). This
plasma is later accelerated by different physical mechanisms to form the solar flares and the
solar wind that reach the Earth ionosphere following the interplanetary magnetic field lines
[3].
The solar wind is constituted by an stream of charged and energetic particles coming from
the the sun. The typical solar wind parameter are n = 3 20 cm3 , kB Ti < 50 eV and
kB Te 100 eV. The drift velocities of these charged particles close to the Earth are about
300-800 Km s1 . This flow of charged particles reaches the Earth orbit and interacts with the
geomagnetic field forming a complex structure denominated magnetosphere that protects the
Earth surface from these high energy particle jets. The average properties of the interplanetary
plasma in our solar system solar corona and solar wind are also in Fig. (2.1) [3].

2.3 Geophysical plasmas

The interplanetary plasma and the solar wind interact
B Magnetic field
with the geomagnetic field to for a complex structure. The
Ions
geomagnetic field is a centered magnetic dipole 1/r3
Vi 2R T up to distances about two Earth radii (RT = 6.371 Km)
Earth
Ve inclined 11o with respect to the planet axis. For distances
over 2 RT interacts with the solar wind and gives raise to
Electrons a complex structure denominated magnetosphere [3, 5]
The basic physical mechanism is outlined in Fig. (2.3).
Figure 2.3: The deviation of The Earth magnetic field decreases with the distance in the
charged particles by the geomag- direction towards the dayside where a stream of particles
netic field. comes from the sun. The Lorentz force resulting from the
perpendicular geomagnetic field deviates the flux charged particles around the Earth. The
weak local magnetic field is in turn affected by this current of charged particles resulting
a complex structure of magnetic field and electric currents around the Earth. Within the
magnetosphere are located the Van Allen belts around the Earth that are constituted by
energetic particles trapped by the geomagnetic field [3, 5]
At the North and south poles, the Earth magnetic field is connected with the Sun magnetic
field lines. The particles moving with parallel velocity to the field lines do not experience a
deflecting force and precipitate towards the Earth surface. The stream of charged particles
is aligned with the local geomagnetic field and this is the origin of polar auroras which are
strongly influenced by the solar activity. The existence of magnetospheres around the planets
is a common feature in the solar system that prevents the energetic particles from reach most
of the surface of planets [3, 6].

All the planets in the solar system have a ionosphere connecting the high altitude atmo-
sphere with the outer space. They have different characteristic in accordance to the particular
18
Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

1000
+ e He
+ O
He
500
Altitude (Km)

O
+ +
H N
300 N2
+
200 NO O2
+
O2
+ Ar
N2
100
3 4 5 6 7 8
10 10 10 10 10 10
Density ( part. / cm 3 )

Figure 2.4: The altitude dependent chemical composition of the Earth ionosphere from Ref. [16].

properties of the planetary magnetic field and the chemical composition of its atmosphere. The
Earths ionosphere is a weakly ionized plasma present between 50 and 1000 Km of altitude
below the magnetosphere ver the neutral atmosphere. The altitude dependent particle den-
sity relies on the sun activity and also on the night/day cycle. The orbiting spacecrafts move
immersed into this cold (kB T 0.1 eV and tenuous plasma with densities of n = 103 107
cm3 and a altitude dependent chemical composition as shown in Fig. (2.4) [6, 7, 16].
In Table (2.1) are the main properties of ionospheric plasma for different altitudes. Here
ne,i are respectively the electron and ion densities, D the Debye length, and the average mass
of the ion is mi . The temperatures are respectively Te,i and the collisional mean free paths
e,i . The typical orbital speed is Vo , the local gas pressure Pa and Ta the gas temperature [16]

2.4 Laboratory plasmas

The plasmas produced in the laboratory or for technological applications are also appear in the
scheme of Fig. (2.1) covering from cold discharge plasmas up to the experiments in controlled
fusion.
The electric discharges in gases are the most traditional field of plasma physics inves-
tigated by I. Langmuir, Tonks and their co-workers since 1920. In fact, the nobel laureate
Irvin Langmuir coined the term plasma in relation to the peculiar state of a partially ionized
gas. Their original objective was to develop for General Electric Co. electric valves that could
withstand large electric currents. However, when these valves were electrically connected
low pressure glow discharges triggered inside. The low pressure inert gases become partially
ionized, weakly ionized plasmas.

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Escuela de Ingeniera Aeronutica y del Espacio Universidad Politcnica de Madrid

Figure 2.5: A laboratory experiment with an argon electric glow discharge (left) and an stable
structure of different plasmas separated by double layers (right).

Two examples of a low pressure argon discharge plasmas are in Fig. (2.5). The typical low
pressure discharges are weakly ionized plasmas with densities between 106 - 1014 cm3 and
temperatures of kB T = 0.1 10 eV in the scheme of Fig. (2.1). In our everyday life these
electric discharges are widely used in a large number of practical applications, as in metal arc
welding, fluorescent lamps, ...etc.
The relatively cold plasmas (kB Te = 0.05-0.5 eV) of high pressure arc discharges are em-
ployed in metal welding and are dense quite dense; up to 1020 . On the opposite limits are
flames which in most cases cannot be strictly considered as a plasma because of their low
ionization degree.
The physics of the discharge plasmas and its applications constitutes a branch of Plasma
Physics and Refs. [10] and [13] are two comprehensive books on this subject.
The plasma thrusters are employed for space propulsion and they impart momentum to
an spacecraft by means an accelerated plasma stream where the ions are accelerated along a
fixed direction. Contrary to classical chemical thrusters, may be continuously working and
the specific impulse of these devices is quite better than chemical thrusters. More than 700
models have been flown in particular for deep space exploration and orbit station keeping.
The plasmas of these devices are produced by low pressure electric discharges with densities
up to 1014 and temperatures in the range 1-2 eV. The basic Plasma Physics involved in space
propulsion and new developments are discussed in Refs. [14, 15].
The themonuclear controlled fusion is the more promising application of plasma physics
since 1952. The controlled thermonuclear reaction of deuterium and/or tritium atoms and
is intended in order to produce waste amounts of energy. The reaction cross sections are
appreciable for energies of reacting particles over 5 KeV. This would require to produce an
stable plasma with temperatures in the range of 10 KeV. The plasma heating and confinement
of such hot plasma still remains a unsolved problem and active field of research. We can see
in Fig. (2.1) the plasma densities reached today in these experiments are around 1010 1013
cm 3 with the temperatures kB Te = 102 103 eV.
The design and operation of the future plasma fusion reactor is a scientific and technological

20
Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

Altitude (Km) 150 200 400 800 1200

Vo m/s 7.83 103 7.80 103 7.68 103 7.47 103 7.26 103
Ni,e cm3 3.0 105 4.0 105 1.0 106 1.0 105 1.0 104
kB Ti K 700 1100 1600 2200 2600
kB Te K 1000 2000 2800 3000 3000
mi uma 28 24 20 14 10
D cm 0.40 0.49 0.37 1.20 3.78
e,i cm 5.0 105 1.0 105 1.0 105 1.0 106 1.0 107
Pa Torr 3.75 103 7.5 1010 1.5 1011 - -
Ta K 635 859 993 - -

Table 2.1: The characteristics of ionospheric plasmas for different altitudes from Ref. [16]. The
ion kB Ti and electron kB Te temperatures are in Kelvin degrees, the average ion mass mi is in
atomic mass units and the local pressure in Torrs.

challenge that requires intense international collaboration. Such a reactor must work with
plasmas where n = 1013 1016 cm 3 and kB T = 0.5-1.0 104 eV.

21
 Bibliography, texbooks and references
3
There are excellent textbooks on the Physics of Plasmas and these notes are not intended to
replace them. They serve as a support for the lectures and therefore, it seems advisable to
provide a complementary bibliography for the reader.

3.1 Textbooks

The following books are general texts of Plasma Physics. The first one is very popular at
elementary level while the others contain chapters with more advanced topics.

Introduction to plasma physics and controlled fusion. Vol 1: Plasma physics. 2nd ed. F.F.
Chen. Plenum Press New York, USA (1984).

Introduction to plasma physics. R.J. Goldston and P.H. Rutherford. Institute of Physics
Bristol, UK (1995).

Physique de Plasmas. Jean-Marcel Rax. Dundod, Paris, France (2007).

The following references are introductory books to Plasma Physics with an special emphasis
on astrophysical and space problems. The first is a comprehensive collection of articles covering
many fields of interest and the second is a textbook on the Physics of Space Plasmas. Finally,
the last one is of elementary level and includes sections with applications of fluid dynamics in
astrophysics and its connections with plasma physics.

Introduction to Space Physics, edited by M.G. Kivelson and C.T. Russel. Cambridge
University Press, New York, (1995).

Physics of Space Plasmas, an Introduction, GK Parks. Addison Wesley, Redwood City

CA. USA, (1991).

Physics of Fluids and Plasmas. An Introduction for Astrophysicists. A. Rai Choudhuri.

Cambridge University Press, Cambridge U.K. (1998).

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

3.2 Bibliography on space plasmas

These references cover two particular topics of interest in this course. The first is a through
reference regarding the structure and properties of the Earth ionosphere. The orbiting space-
crafts and satellites move into and also interact with this particular medium, these issues are
discussed in the two additional references.

The Earths Ionosphere: Plasma Physics and Electrodynamics. M.C. Kelley. International
Geophysical Series, Academic Press, San Diego CA, USA (1989).

A review of plasma Interactions with spacecraft in low Earth orbit. D. Hastings, J Geophys.
Res. 79, (A13), 1871-1884, (1986).

Spacecraft environment interactions. S.D. Hastings. Cambridge University Press, Cam-

bridge, UK (2004).

3.3 References on gas discharge physics

The following references on the physics of electric discharges are indispensable to calculate
numeric estimates of transport coefficients, ionization rates, ... etc.

Basic data of plasma physics: The fundamental data on electrical discharge in gases. S.C.
Brown. American Vacuum Society Classics American Institute of Physics, New York,
USA (1994).

Gas discharge physics. Y.P. Raizer. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany (1991).

3.4 Additional material

One can be found easily in servers across the internet lots of information regarding topics
covered in this course. Some of them also include free useful computer codes codes. This is
not an exhaustive list but provides some reference web pages.

On the Physics of Plasmas:

[Link]
This web page contains links to practically all large groups of Plasma Physics around
the world. It covers software, references, conferences, ...etc and remains continuously
updated.

Space Physics Groups at NASA:

[Link]
NASA has a wide range of activities in physics from space and a full division dedicated
to Plasma Physics issues.

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Escuela de Ingeniera Aeronutica y del Espacio Universidad Politcnica de Madrid

Naval Research Laboratory:

[Link]
The naval research laboratory in the U.S. has a division of plasma physics which publishes
a free and well-known NRL plasma physics formulary of commonly used formulas.

Plasma Simulation Group. Berkeley University:

[Link]
This group dedicated to the development of PIC codes to simulate plasmas and gaseous
discharges. The codes These codes have a good graphical interface are open and can be
downloaded from this server for free.

24
 The elementary processes and the plasma equilibrium
4
In ordinary fluids the energy and momentum is transported by the short range molecular
collisions of the neutral particles. Their properties determine the transport coefficients of the
neutral gas, as its viscosity or thermal conductivity. These atomic and molecular encounters
also are the relaxation mechanism that brings the system from a perturbed state back into a
new equilibrium.
Most plasmas (see Fig. 2.1) of interest in space are weakly coupled, the average kinetic
energy of particles dominates and is much larger than their electrostatic energies. These
plasmas are constituted by electrons, atoms, molecules and eventually charged dust grains,
in a dynamic equilibrium where a large number of collisional processes between the plasma
particles take place. As for ordinary fluids, the collisions at atomic and molecular level also
determine both, the transport properties and the relaxation of perturbations towards the
equilibrium state.
The atomic and molecular encounters determine the response of fluids and plasmas to
external perturbations. They also couple the motions of the different particle species that
contribute to the transport properties. Additionally, the long range Coulomb forces in plasmas
are involved in collisions between charged and neutral species.
The physical and chemical properties of plasmas in nature are determined by the charac-
teristics of the elementary processes at atomic and molecular level, and the number of possible
collisional processes is huge. In Tables (4.3) and (4.1) are shown the more relevant involv-
ing the ions, electrons and neutral atoms or molecules. The chemical nature of the parent
neutral gas (or gas mixture) influences the plasma properties. While most ions are produced
by electron impact in noble gases as Argon the formation of negative ions is important in
electronegative gases as is the molecular oxygen O2 .
The degree of ionization in the plasma also determines the relevant molecular processes. In
weakly ionized plasmas, the concentration of charged particles ne and ni are much lower than
the neutral atom background density na  ne , ni ; the ratio ne /na could be as low as 1/105 .
Therefore, the collisions between charged particles and neutrals dominate. On the contrary,
in fully ionized plasmas the long range Coulomb collisions between charged particles are the
relevant collisional processes.
Not all possible of atomic collisions are equal likely and the relevance of a particular

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Escuela de Ingeniera Aeronutica y del Espacio Universidad Politcnica de Madrid

molecular process introduces additional length and times scales characterized by its mean free
path and collision frequency. In this section are introduced some simple concepts from kinetic
theory in order to relate the properties of atomic and molecular collisions with the transport
properties of low density plasmas. In the following we will restrict ourselves to binary collisions
that involve two particles. These are dominant in weakly coupled plasmas while those with
more than two particles are important in denser strongly coupled plasmas. This connection
between the transport properties and the properties of molecular and and atomic collisions
is throughly discussed in the classical Refs. [17] and [18] and a modern approach is found in
Ref. [19].

4.1 The collision cross section

The classical concept of collision cross section could
A= nA VA be traced back to the early atomic models of Thom-
A son and Rutherford and considers the typical veloc-
ity of particles v large enough so that their quantum
A
B
A wavelengths = h/m v are negligible. In this classi-
B cal picture the particles are represented by spherically
A A
B B symmetric centers of force and the quantum effects as
A
well as its internal structure are neglected.
A B C
S D
The basic concept may be introduced using the
scheme of Fig. (4.1). The flux A = nA VA of monoen-
ergetic incident particles pass through the surface S
Figure 4.1: The one dimensional and collide with the B target particles. The particles
stream of particles A across the surface A and B only react or are scattered when reaching a
S with particles B. minimum distance Ro or -equivalently- when lie within
2
the equivalent surface o = Ro . The number of such collision events QAB produced by a
single molecule B by time unit is,

dQAB
= QAB = o A = o (na VA ) (4.1)
dt
representing the number of A particles that cross o by time unit. Thus, the total cross section
o may be defined as the ratio,

QAB QAB
o = = (4.2)
A na VA
Next, the number qAB of collisions by volume and time units is obtained from by multiplying
Eq. (4.1) by the number density nB of particles,

d qAB
= nB QAB = o nb na VA
dt
When the particles A are lost by the reaction A + B C + D the rate nA = qAB and,

dnA
= o nA nB VA < 0 while for the C and D particles, nC = nD = nA > 0
dt

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

Therefore, we obtain a differential equation for nA that can be integrated in time,

dnA
= (o nB VA ) dt which gives, nA (t) = nAo e t > 0
> nA
2
mp where,
Vp = R2 = o nB VA

is the collision frequency. This magnitude represents the

number of collisions of a given process by unit time. We
may also introduce the length = VA / which gives colli-
Figure 4.2: Dispersed parti- sion mean free path,
cles under large > /2 and small
= 1/(o nB )
< /2 scattering angles.
representing the average length that the A particle travels between two successive collisions
among the background of particles nB . Alternatively, using dxA = VA dt we also obtain,

nA (x) = nAo ex/

The equations for nA (x) and nA (t) respectively represents the attenuation in the number of
particles with the beam depth x, and the decay in number with time. The collision cross
section is involved in and and measures the characteristic time and length.
The cross section o Ro2 essentially measures the extent of the region with average
radius Ro where A and B interact. Note that in addition to the reactions the collisions also
scatter the particles along large > /2 or small < /2 deflection angles as in Fig.(4.2). For
two hard spheres with radius dA and dB the cross section is,

1
o = Ro2 with, Ro = (dA + dB )
2
When a particles experience different kinds of collisions with cross sections tot = 1 + 2 + . . .
the total collision frequency in above equation becomes tot = 1 + 2 + . . . .

4.2 The total and differential cross sections.

In the general, the cross section essentially depends on the relative velocity |vA vB | = |g| = g
of the colliding species and therefore the could no be considered as a constant value. Equiva-
lently, on the kinetic energy E of the incoming particle in the frame where the target remains
at rest (laboratory frame). The incident particles also could be scattered along large or small
scattering angles as in Fig. (4.2) or because of the internal properties of colliding particles
along a privileged direction. This situation is depicted in the schemes of (4.3) and (4.4).
As a first step we generalize the Eq. (4.1) by considering the number QAB of collision
events by time unit between the A particles within the interval of velocity vA as,

QAB dQAB

vA dvA

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Therefore, for a particular collisional process, the energy dependent total cross section is
defined as,

dQAB = nA T (|vA vB |) |vA vB | dvA (4.3)

As in the Eq. (4.1) dQAB represents the number of collision events produced by a target
molecule B for velocities of the incoming A particles between vA and vA + dvA . The total
cross section may be also introduced by generalizing the Eq. (4.2) as the ratio,

(dQAB /dvA ) (dQAB /dvA )

T (|vA vB |) = =
A nA |vA vB |
The total cross section T (|vA vB |) characterizes the energy dependent scattering of A
particles irrespective of their dispersion angles.
However, in accordance to their internal states, the in-
cident particle A could be scattered over a preferred di-
rection along the angle . The differential cross section
AB (g, ) accounts for this anisotropic scattering as indi-
cated in Fig. (4.3).
Z A
The incident particle moves along the Z axis and is
d scattered by the particle at rest located at the origin. The
dispersion is independent of the angle 1 and the trajec-
tory of the incoming particle and the Z axis are contained
in the plane indicated in Fig. (4.3). Again, as in Eq. (4.1)
B Y the number collision events QAB by time unit of A particles
X emerging within the solid angle d = sin d d,
d
VA dQAB (, g) = nA AB (g, ) |vA vB | sin d d (4.4)
A
Again, the differential cross section could be also intro-
duced using the Eq. (4.2) as the ratio,
Figure 4.3: The scheme of an
atomic collision.
(dQAB /dvA d) (dQAB /dvA d)
AB (|vA vB |) = =
A nA |vA vB |
This represents the ration between the number of particles by time unit that appear over the
solid angle d after collide over the flux of incoming A particles.
The integration over the angles d and d of Fig. (4.3) recovers the total cross section,

dT (|vA vB |) = AB (, |vA vB |) d
therefore, Z 2 Z 0
T (|vA vB |) = AB (, |vA vB |) sin d d
0
and we obtain the Eq. (4.3),
1
The collisions may also depend on of Fig. (4.3) and the cross section would be as (E, , ), but this
situation is caused by the existence of internal states in the colliding molecules, however is unusual in atomic

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

Z
T (|vA vB |) = 2 AB (|vA vB |, ) sin d
0
The values for the cross section are essentially determined in experiments where are an-
alyzed the dispersion of an incident particle beam by a target material 2 . Additionally, the
values for AB (, |vA vB |) could be theoretically calculated by means of physical models
that predicts the dispersion angles of particles observed in the experiments.
In Figs. (4.6), (4.5) and (4.10) are some useful experimental values for the total cross
section for the collisions of interest in laboratory plasmas. These are discussed in [10] and [13]
in the context of the physics of electric discharges. The differential cross sections for elastic
collisions between low energy electrons and neutral Argon atoms are in Fig. (4.7). Finally, the
differential cross sections in relation with transport properties in plasmas are also discussed
in Refs. [20, 21].

4.3 Cross section and impact parameter

The concepts of impact parameter and cross section are closely related and useful in atom and
molecular collision experiments. For simplicity in the following we will consider the elastic
dispersion of A particles by the B targets, but similar arguments apply to reactive collisions.
In the classical experiments of particle scattering, the measurements essentially relate the
so called impact parameter b(, E) and the energy E of the incident particle and its dispersion
angle . This situation is depicted scheme of Fig. (4.4) in the frame where the target particle
B remains at rest. We consider the symmetry around the angle and the incoming particle
A moves again with relative speed g = vA vB . After the collision event, the particle A is
scattered along the angle with respect of its initial direction.
The number of incoming particles by time unit entering into the dashed annular surface
S = b db d of Fig. (4.4) is,
 
dnA
= nA |g| S = nA |g| (b db d)
dt in
where b is denominated the impact parameter. These particles are found after the encounter
at the distance r from the dispersion center B within the spherical sector 2 r sin d.
According to Eq. (4.4) the number of A particles emerging from the collision within the solid
angle d = sin d d may be expressed as,
 
dnA
= nA |g| AB (, g) sin d d
dt out

Here, the differential cross section is AB (g, ) and is adjusted to give,

   
dnA dnp
= (4.5)
dt in dt out
then,
and molecular encounters in gases.
2
In the next section is discussed the useful Eq. (4.7) relating the cross section with the impact parameter.
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(nAB |g|) b db d = (nAB |g|) AB (g, ) sin d d (4.6)

and we finally obtain the relation between the dif-

ferential cross section and the impact parameter, A
d
b
 
 db  d
AB (, g) =   (4.7)
sin  d  db
A b
Therefore the cross section AB (, g) measures
the variation of in the flux = nA |g| of A parti- g B Z
cles in the collision along the scattering direction
defined by the angle . The absolute value is in-
troduced because b(E, ) is usually a decreasing Figure 4.4: The A particle with impact
function of , the particles with large impact pa- parameter b collides with relative velocity
rameter b are scattered along smaller angles . g = vA vB and is scattered along the
The theoretical models for molecular collisions direction .
provide expressions for b(E, ) that can be compared with the results of the experiments using
Eq. (4.7). These concepts may be extended to reactive encounter. In this case, the particle
found along the line defined by is the result of the reaction A + B and the Eqs. (4.5) and
(4.6) the number of molecular reactions.

4.4 The atomic collisions in plasmas

In plasmas electrons and charged particles are not bounded moving freely within the plasma
bulk. The number of different collisional processes in the plasma is huge and scale with the
number of particles involved. The more relevant processes for electrons are in Table (4.1) and
for ions and neutral atoms in Table (4.3). All collisional processes could be roughly categorized
[14] as;

Elastic: The total kinetic energy of colliding particles is conserved and also retain their
charges and initial internal states.

Inelastic: A fraction of kinetic energy is transferred to alter the initial internal state of
one (or both) colliding particles. Also to produce an additional particle, as in ionizing
collisions.

Superelastic: A collision where potential energy is transformed into kinetic energy so that
the total kinetic energy of colliding object is greater after the collision than before3 .

Radiative: When a fraction of the kinetic energy is radiated in any range of the electro-
magnetic spectrum.

Charge exchange: The electric charge state of colliding particles is interchanged. An

electric charge is transferred from one to other.
3
This occurs for example in the electron ion recombination.

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

Figure 4.5: Experimental data of the elastic cross sections and collision probabilities between
electrons and neutrals for different gases from Ref. [10].

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The detailed description of each atomic collision depends of the energy of incident particles
and their internal states. Our objective is not to review the elementary processes in detail but
we will briefly examine their more relevant features for the low energy range of our interest.
For more details on the theoretical models for cross sections end their experimental data the
reader is referred to the literature on this subject. The Refs. [10], [11] and [12] discuss in
detail the kinetic of charged particles and plasma chemistry.

4.4.1 The electron collisions with neutrals

Electrons are the more mobile particles in a plasma and when the gas is partially or weakly ion-
ized, the collisions between electrons and neutral atoms are dominant. Collisions with neutrals
require the close approach of colliding pand therefore are of short range. In weakly ionized
plasmas these cross sections are the major contribution to the plasma transport coefficients.

[Link] The elastic collisions

In these collisions there is a negligible exchange (in

-15 the order of = (2me /ma ) of kinetic energy between
10
the electron and the neutral atom. Then, the energy
Cross Section (cm )
-2

of colliding particles is practically conserved without

changes in the internal states of the neutral atom,
-16
10
e + A e + A

-17 Elastic The total elastic cross sections for low electron en-
10 Ionization ergies in are Fig. (4.5) and exhibit strong variations
Excitation
and an important angular dependence for the electron
-1 0 1 2
scattering as shows the Fig. (4.7).
10 10 10 10
Energy (eV) The electron energy energy profiles (see Fig. 4.5)
differ within an order of magnitude according to the
Figure 4.6: The total cross sections of chemical nature of molecular (N2 , CO, O2 ) and atomic
Argon for elastic and inelastic collisions (Ar, Kr, Xe) gases. The values are about (E)
between electron and neutral atoms. 5.0 35.0 1016 cm2 for noble gases.
The elastic collisions take place for any energy of the incoming electron and the cross section
decreases for large energies. The peak in the cross section for very low energies correspond to
a quantum mechanical effect denominated Ramssauer effect, which could be appreciated for
Argon at low electron energies in Fig. (4.6).
This growth of the cross section takes place when the characteristic size of the atom
( 108 cm) is in the order of the electron wavelength e = h/mve . In this case the electron
wave function interacts with those of electrons at the external shells of the atom. On practical
grounds the Ramssauer effect is negligible in most plasmas because the typical average electron
energy leads a negligible number of low energy electrons.
[Link] Inelastic collisions

In the inelastic collisions a fraction of the initial electron kinetic energy is transferred and
produces changes in the internal state of the target particle. In this category are included

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

Electron collisions with atoms and molecules

Scheme Process Macroscopic effect

Elastic Coulomb collision be- Transport and energy trans-

1 e + A+ e + A+ fer in highly ionized plasmas
tween electron and ions
Elastic collision between elec- Electron transport and diffu-
2 e + A e + A sion. Electron mobility
tron and neutral atoms
Excitation of neutrals by elec- Multiplication of metastable
3 e + A e + A neutral atoms
tron impact
Energy tranfer to vibrational
4 e + AB e + AB Vibrational excitation levels of molecules
Multiplication of ion and elec-
5 e + A 2e + A+ Electron impact ionization trons from the ground state.
Ionization of neutral atoms
6 e + A 2e + A+ Multistep ionization from an excited state
Production of negative ions in
7 e + AB A + B Dissociative attachement molecular gases
Production of negative ions in
8 e + A + B AB Three body attachment electronegative gases
Production atomic ions in
9 e + AB 2e + A + B + Dissociative ionization electronegative gases
Molecule dissociation by elec- Production of neutral atoms
10 e + AB e + A + B in molecular gases
tron impact
De-excitation of neutrals Destruction of metastable
11 e + A e + A neutral atoms
(quenching)
Relevant in dense highly ion-
12 2e + A+ e + A Three body recombination ized plasmas
Relevant in dense highly ion-
13 e + A+ h + A Radiative recombination ized plasmas
Important in weakly ionized
14 e + AB + A + B Dissociative recombination molecular plasmas
Detachment by electron im- Loss of negative ions in elec-
15 e + A 2e + A tronegative gases
pact

Table 4.1: The most relevant electron collisional processes in plasmas for energy exchange (1-4)
production of particles (5-10) and losses (11-15). The neutral atom is A, its metastable state
A and A+ represents the corresponding single charged ion. The molecules or diatomic gases are
indicated as AB.

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Low energy electron scattering from Argon

1016 cm2 sr1 8.0 5 eV

10 eV
20 eV
30 eV
4.0 50 eV
( E, )

0.0
0 30 60 90 120 150 180
Angle
Figure 4.7: Experimental data of the differential cross section for low energy electrons with Argon
atoms from Ref. [8].

the collisions that transfer a fraction of the electron energy to the neutral atom in which a
bounded electron jumps into excited state as,

e + A e + A+

The corresponding cross section depends of the excited state of the neutral atom. This
latter is ionized in the electron impact ionization,

e + A 2 e + A+

when the energy of the incident electron lies over the ionization energy EI of the neutral atom.
The ionization of a neutral produces an electron-ion pair and the newly released electron is
called secondary electron.
A plasma stable in time requires of an dynamic equilibrium between the charge production
(ionization) and losses (recombination). The number of produced electron-ion pairs needs to
be equal to the number of those lost in order to obtain a plasma density constant in time.
These inelastic collisions provide excited neutral atoms and ions, and the electron impact
ionization is usually the main charge production mechanism in the plasma. Both require of a
threshold energy for the impacting electron.
The elastic, excitation (only the more relevant transition is depicted) and ionization cross
section or argon are compared4 in Fig. (4.6). The qualitative dependence with the electron
energy is similar in most gases.
4
Note that the energies are represented in logarithmic scale.

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

100

Helium
101

He+ 1017 cm2

102 He++ 1019 cm2

101 102 103

101
Cross section (E) ( cm2 )

100
Neon
101
Ne+ 1017 cm2
Ne++ 1017cm2
102 1
10 102 103

100
Argon
Ar+ 1016 cm2
101 Ar++ 1017 cm2

101 102 103

Electron energy (eV)
Figure 4.8: Experimental data from Ref. [9] for the electron impact ionization cross sections of
different rare gases.

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The excitation and ionization require of a threshold value for the energy of the colliding
electron and after a sharp growth decreases smoothly for high energies. When the transition of
the bounded electron to the target neutral atom is allowed according to the spectroscopy selec-
tion rules, the tail of (E) trend to decrease as (E) ln(E)/E while it falls as (E) 1/E
or faster when is forbidden. In both inelastic collisions, the dispersed electrons are concen-
trated more around the forward direction than for the elastic collisions (see Fig. 4.7) and this
tendency increases with the electron energy.
The inelastic collisions with a threshold en-
-1
10 ergy produce changes in the electron energy dis-
H EI = 13.6 eV
10
-2
He EI = 24.6 eV tribution function. Since most excitation poten-
Ar EI = 15.8 eV
tial of gases are in the order of few eV, each col-
I / (naC VTe)

-3
10
-4
lision event reduces the energy of the impacting
10
electron by an amount EI . Therefore, the average
-5
10 energy of fast electrons in the tail of the energy
10
-6 distribution decreases, and these electrons return
-7 to the low energy group.
10 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3
Electron temperature KBTe (eV) The ionization rate could be calculated us-
ing the Eq. (4.3). The number QI of ionization
Figure 4.9: The growing of the ionization events by target neutral atom in the frame where
frequency with kB Te for atomic H, He and they remain at rest is,
Ar using the Eq. (4.10).

dQI = ne I (ve ) |ve | dve

The number of incoming electrons with velocities between ve and ve + dve is therefore,

ne dve = neo fe (ve ) dve

and in the case of a isotropic electron distribution fe (ve ) = fe (|ve |) also,

ne dve = neo ge (E) dE

and ge (E) is the electron energy distribution function. Then,

dQI = neo I (ve ) ve fe (ve ) dve = neo I (ve ) ve ge (E) dE

where I (E) is the cross section for electron impact ionization. The energy of the colliding
electron needs to be over the ionization threshold EI = me vI2 /2 of the neutral atom, so that
I (E) = 0 for E < EI . Therefore,
Z
QI = neo I (ve ) ve fe (ve ) dve (4.8)
vI

or equivalently,
Z
QI = neo I (E) ve ge (E) dE (4.9)
EI

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

Gas He H2 Ne N2 O2

C 0.13 0.59 0.16 0.85 0.68

Table 4.2: Coefficient C in the electron impact cross section for ionization (Eq. 4.10) for different
gases from Ref. [10].

Higher ionization levels of ions as double ionized ions (as A++ , ...etc) have lower cross
sections and require of higher energies for ionizing electrons. This fact is evidenced in the
experimental data of Fig. (4.8) where the energy threshold for the double ionization of rare
gases corresponds to higher energies of the impacting electron.
As observed in Fig. (4.6) the ionization cross section grows fast I (E) grows fast for
electron energies over E EI . Therefore, in Eq. (4.8) is usually approximated by a piecewise
linear function,

0 if E < EI
I (E) = (4.10)
C (E EI ) if E EI

where C is an empirical value and in Table (4.2) are their values for different gases. For a
Maxwellian electron energy distribution function (Eqs. 1.1 and 1.2) with temperature kB Te
in Eqs. (4.8) and (4.9) we obtain,

I = A (1 + 2kB Te ) exp(EI /kB Te ) (4.11)

where A = na C ve and ve is given by Eq.(1.3).

In Fig. (4.9) is represented the ratio I /A which only rely on the electron temperature. As
it could be observed, the ionization frequency grows several orders of magnitude with the
electron temperature. The increasing value of kB Te produce a wider Maxwellian distribution
for electrons and the number of electrons in the tail for energies E > EI also increments. A
higher number of electrons with energy enough to produce a ionization event increases the
ionization rate in the plasma.
The ionization from the ground state of the neutral atom is not the only possibility. The
ion could also be produced by two successive collisions, from an excited level of the of the
neutral,
A + e A + e
and then,
A + e A+ + e .
Finally, the electrons could be also los in certain gases by attachment. A negative ion in
formed by capturing an electron as,
N2 + e N2
This occurs for certain molecular gases in accordance to their electron affinity.

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4.4.2 Ion collisions with neutrals

In plasma whit low ionization degrees the elastic collisions between ions and neutral atoms
are frequent. An important process is the collision between a neutral and an ion where an
electron is interchanged, denominated charge exchange collision,

A+ + B B + + A

and these collisions are dominant in partially and weakly ionized plasmas.
The charge exchange is resonant when both colliding atoms have similar ionization energies
and non resonant otherwise. As it can be deduced from the experimental data of Figs.
(4.10) and (4.5) this reaction has a cross sections5 comparable with those for elastic collisions
between electrons and neutral atoms and contributes to distribute the positive charges within
the plasma. In weakly ionized plasma where the number of ions is low and the neutral atom
concentration high, these collisions represent and important mechanism for energy transfer
between both species.
The electrons are not the only particle producing the ionization of a neutral. There exits
ion neutral collisions where charges are produced as in the dissociative ionization where two
neutrals collide, one of them excited,

A + B A+ + B + e .

Again, a large number of possible molecular and atomic collisions are possible and the details
are beyond the scope of these notes.

4.4.3 Photoprocesses

In radiative collisions or photoprocesses the photon is the second particle involved and the
kinetic energy of a particle may be transformed in electromagnetic radiation. For example, in
the photoionization process the ionizing particle is a quantum of light (photon) with energy
E = h . When the energy E > EI is over the ionization potential of the neutral atom,

A + h A+ + e .

The number of ionization events by time and volume is proportional to the concentration
of neutral atoms I = I() na , multiplied by a function I() which rely in the light intensity
(that is, to the number of available photons) and the frequency of light.
Additionally, the photoexcitation could increment the energy of an electron in the external
shell of the neutral atom which is eventually ionized later by an electron impact,

A + h A
A + e A+ + e
5
Some authors ambiguously use total cross section also for the sum of different total cross sections as in Fig.
(4.10).

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Ion and neutral atom collisions

Scheme Process Macroscopic effect

Elastic collision between neu- Transport of neutrals and en-
1 A+A A+A ergy thermalization
tral atoms
Elastic collision between ions Transport of ions, diffusion
2 A+ + A A+ + A and thermalization of energy
and neutral atoms
Resonant or nonresonant Ion transport, diffusion and
3 A + B + A+ + B thermalization of energy
charge exchange
Collision between metastable
4 A + A A + A Diffusion of metastable atoms
and neutral atoms
Production ions in gas
5 A + B e + A + B + Penning ionization mixtures
Production of molecular ions
6 A + B e + AB + Associative ionization in diatomic or gas mixtures
Production of molecular ions
7 A + B + + C A + BC + Ion association in gas mixtures
Production of ions from
8 A + A e + A+ + A Cross Penning reaction metastable atoms
Loss of negative ions in elec-
9 AB + AB + AB + AB Ion-ion recombination tronegative or diatomic gases

Table 4.3: Relevant collisional processes between ions and neutral atoms in plasmas involving
energy exchange (1-4) ion production (5-8) and losses. The neutral atom is A, its metastable state
A and A+ represents the corresponding single charged ion. The molecules or diatomic gases are
indicated as AB

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40 150

30 100
Helium

Collision Probability P c (cm 1 Torr 1)

20
50
(E) 1016 (cm2)

10
0 0
50
Total
150
40 Elastic
Charge exchange
30 100
Neon
20
Cross section

50
10
80
250
60 Argon 200

40 150
100
20
0 5 10 15 20 25
Energy (eV)
Figure 4.10: Experimental data from Ref. [10] for cross section and probabilities of elastic
collisions between ions and neutral atoms for different inert gases as a function of the ion energy.
The data correspond to elastic collisions (diamonds), charge exchange (squares) and the sum of
both (solid bullets).

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The frequencies of light involved in photoexcitation are in the order of 1-5 eV, within
the range of visible light ( E = 2.26 eV or = 550 nm ). The visible light emitted by
plasmas comes mostly from these processes atomic excitation and processes caused by the
large number of free electrons with energies in the range 1-5 eV. However, the energies required
to ionize the neutral atoms from their ground state corresponds to the ultraviolet part of the
electromagnetic spectrum.

4.4.4 The collisions of charged particles

The number of encounters between charged particles depend on the ionization degree,

= ni /(ni + na )

of the neutral gas. The plasmas may be roughly considered as fully ionized and the coulomb
collisions dominant when the ionization degree is over few parts over one thousand, while can
be neglected in weakly ionized plasmas. The long range electric force between two charged
particles is more intense and is exerted at much longer distances that the average atomic
dimensions. The corresponding cross sections are therefore much larger than in collisions with
neutral particles. Again, there are different possible collisions between charged particles and
we only discuss the more relevant.

[Link] The electron and ion recombination

The reverse process of ionization is the recombination of an electron e and the ion A+ to
produce a neutral atom. There exists different possible atomic and molecular processes that
end with the production of a neutral atom. However, the average number of ions lost by
volume and time units is proportional to the concentration of ions and electrons,

dni
( )rec = kR ne ni . (4.12)
dt
Here kR is the recombination rate, and a plasma stable in time and electrically neutral
requires ni = ne = n. This leads to the following differential equation,

dn
= kR n2
dt
and integrating we obtain,

1 1
= + kR t
n no

where no is the ion (or electron) concentration at t = 0. The recombination coefficient kR

could be experimentally determined by its linear relation of 1/n with time. The typical values
found are kR ' 107 cm3 seg1 .
In addition to the electron impact ionization, the neutrals could be ionized and the ions
recombined by different collisional processes. It must be emphasized that the corresponding

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reaction rate constants and the involved energies may differ by orders of magnitude. The
relevance of each particular recombination process in the above average needs to be examined.
The number of charged particles in a plasma in equilibrium is therefore related with the
ionization frequency I (or equivalently with the reaction rate kI ) and the reaction rate kR .
The equilibrium between charge production and recombination is determined by the quotient,

ni kI
=
na kR
In laboratory plasmas, the ions are lost mainly by recombination at the walls of the device,
not in the plasma bulk. Because of the low ionization degrees, the typical recombination mean
free path is larger than the physical dimensions of the plasma container. On the contrary, most
of ions reach the plasma chamber walls without a recombining collision that would transform
the ion into a neutral atom.

[Link] The Coulomb collisions

The long range Coulomb collisions of the form,

A+ + e A+ + e .
transfer energy and momentum between the charged species. These collisions are dominant
in fully ionized plasmas and in dense plasma may involved more than two particles.
This is not the place for a detailed description of these collisions, however, it may be shown
the using = ei /Vth the average collision time between electrons and ions in MKSC units
respectively are,
3/2
6 2 3/2 o me Te
e = (4.13)
e4 n
and
3/2
12 3/2 o mi Ti
i = (4.14)
e4 n
Here, = ln(dmax /dmin ) is the Coulomb logarithm proportional to the logarithm of the
ratio the maximum and minimum impact parameters. The shortest approaching distance is
dmin and dmin ' rc = e2 /4o T determined by,

me,i u2e,i e2
=0
2 4o rc
Because the electric potential is shielded dmax = d (the Debye length). The Coulomb loga-
rithm is an smooth function of the density and plasma temperature.

4.5 Numerical estimates

The mean free paths, collision frequencies are estimated from the experimental data for cross
sections. In addition, most of these quantities are somehow related with the neutral gas
pressure, that we associate with the neutral atom density na through,

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

1 P P
na = = 7.24 1022
kB T T
with the pressures in Torr 1 Pa = 133 Torr and neutral atom densities in cm3 we have,

P [Torr]
na [cm3 ] = 9.63 1018
T [K]
for the Ta = 273 K we have

na [cm3 ] = 3.53 1016 P [Torr]

The actual parameter measured in the experiments is the collision probability Pc , which
is defined as the average number of collisions experienced by a particle when traveling 1 cm of
length at the temperature of o C and at the pressure of 1 mm Hg.
The relation between Pc and is simple. Being nb the density of target particles and
the collision frequency Pc = t (1 cm), and because t(1 cm) = 1/vT where vT is the
corresponding thermal velocity,
 
1 cm
Pc = t(1 cm) = (nb vT ) = nb
vT
For example, in collisions between neutrals and electrons (see Fig. 4.5) we have, Pc = na ea
we have,

1 1
ea = =
na ea p o Pc
and for the frequency,

v
ea = = p o Pc vT e
ea
where po =1 mm Hg, and for the total cross section we have,

ea [cm2 ] = 0.283 1016 Pc

The cross sections are frequently expressed as,

2
= a2o = 8.797 1017 cm2 = 0.88
2
and results = 0.322 Pc [ ].
The experimental cross section for the elastic and inelastic collisions between electrons and
neutral atoms for different gases as a function of the energy of the incident particle are in Figs.
(4.5) and (4.6). Additionally, the cross sections for elastic and charge exchange collisions of
ions with neutrals are in Fig. (4.10).

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4.6 The equilibrium states of a plasma

As we have seen, not all the above reactions between the plasma species have equal probability.
Their cross sections are different, the collision rates also rely on the degree of ionization, the
concentration of ions, electrons, ...etc.
Consequently, the plasma in thermodynamic equilibrium is a rather unusual situation in
nature. Strictly speaking, it would require the balance of all collisional and radiative processes
by the reverse reactions. So that the charge production and ionization rates must be equals,
the emission and absortion of electromagnetic radiation by the plasma particles, ...etc. We
conclude that,

A plasma (or any other statistical population of particles) is in thermodynamic

equilibrium when the rates of collisional and radiative processes are balanced by
their reverse reactions.

In such situation, the plasma is fully characterized by its thermodynamic magnitudes; the
equilibrium pressure, volume and temperature. The energy distribution of each specie in the
plasma is a Maxwell Boltzmann distribution with a common temperature for all species in the
system. In this thermodynamic equilibrium state,

The physical properties properties of the plasma are uniform in space and constant in
time.

The plasma is said optically thick. The balance of forward and backward reaction requires
that the light produced by inelastic particle collisions is later absorbed and cannot leave
the plasma region. In consequence, a plasma in thermodynamic equilibrium has a black
body radiation spectrum.

Obviously, these requisites are very restrictive and plasmas in thermodynamic equilibrium
are seldom found in nature nor in laboratory. In practice we always deal with plasmas far
from thermodynamic equilibrium where the lack of balance of some elementary processes leads
to a hierarchy of partial equilibrium states.

The plasma is in local equilibrium when all collisional processes for charge pro-
duction are balanced with those of particle recombination, but not the radiative
processes.

Under these conditions, the plasma in local equilibrium emits light, since it comes from ra-
diative processes, as i.e. from electron impact excitation and deexcitation of bounded electrons
of neutrals atoms. This radiation leaves the plasma and therefore can be detected. However,
the balance of all collisional processes between charged and neutral species implies that they
are in equilibrium, and consequently, are again characterized by the Maxwell Boltzmann en-
ergy distribution with the same kinetic temperature.
Finally, because of their the different cross sections in plasmas confined in small volumes
only some collisional processes are balanced. This brings the next kind of plasma equilibrium.

44
Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

The plasma is in partial equilibrium when only an small number of elementary

processes are balanced.

This is the more frequent situation in laboratory plasmas because the charge production
occurs within the plasma volume but the recombination of charged particles takes place at
the walls of the plasma container or over the surface of the metallic electrodes.
The reason is the electron impact ionization cross section, which is often much larger
than the recombination cross section. Consequently, the ionization mean free path is shorter
than for recombination. The charges are originated inside the plasma bulk but leave the
experimentation volume without experience the corresponding recombining collision.

4.6.1 Multithermal equilibrium

A particular feature of plasmas is the possibility of 5

the coexistence of charged particle populations with 10

Temperature (Kelvin)
different average energies. This means a partial equi- KB Te
librium where the electron kB Te and ion kB Ti tem- 4
10
peratures differ.
The energy exchange between the different parti- 3
10
cle species is determined by the nature and frequency KB Ta
of collisions among them. Because of the disparity be- 2
10
tween the electron and ion masses the energy exchange 4 3 2 1 1 2 3
10 10 10 10 1 10 10 10
is low in the elastic collisions between electrons and
neutral atoms. The fraction of exchanged energy is Gas Pressure (KPa)
proportional to = 2 me /mi which typically lies be-
tween 104 and 105 . Figure 4.11: The neutral gas kB Ta
and electron kB Te temperatures as a
The electron impact inelastic collisions produce
function of the gas pressure.
transitions between energy levels of bounded electrons
of atoms and vibrational and/or rotational energy levels of molecules. The typical energy
transfer rate for these inelastic collisions is one or two orders of magnitude higher, between
103 and 102 . On the contrary, for elastic and charge exchange collisions between ions and
neutral atoms the energy exchange rate is much larger because colliding particles have similar
masses. In other words, ions and neutrals share energy fast while electrons retain their kinetic
energies during longer times.
This effect of energy transfer between two plasma species is evidenced in Fig. (4.11) where
are represented the electron kB Te and neutral gas kB Ta temperatures as a function of the
neutral gas pressure pa . The electrons acquire energy from the low electric field in the plasma
and transfer a fraction of this energy to the neutral gas, essentially by elastic collisions.
For low neutral pressures the collisions are scarce, the energy transfer between both species
remains low and their respective temperatures are different. For higher gas pressures the
collision frequency increases and both temperatures approach because the collisional energy
transfer grows. In this partial equilibrium state of electrons ions and neutral atoms the average
electron kinetic energy per particle is different from those of ions and neutrals.
Therefore the electron kinetic temperature kB Te  kB Ti differs from ion and neutral atom
temperatures kB Ti ' kB Ta . In the multithermal equilibrium state or two temperature plasma

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each charged particle specie is characterized by a different energy distribution function and
contrary to a plasma in local equilibrium. This partial equilibrium state of a plasma is often
found in nature and in the laboratory but obviously requires of an external source of energy
to exist.
4.6.2 The local equilibrium

As we have seen, the Maxwell Boltzmann distribution corresponds to a plasma in thermody-

namic equilibrium with parameters as temperatures and density constant in time and uniform
in space. This fact excludes the possibility of transport of charged or neutral particles, mo-
mentum, energy, ...etc. Such situation has no practical interest because we usually deal with
plasmas far from equilibrium. The determination of the nonequilibrium velocity (or energy)
distribution function f (v, r, t) for all plasma species ( = a, e, i) is a difficult task and one
of the main objectives of the kinetic theory of plasmas.
However, when certain conditions are met we may locally approximate this undetermined
nonequilibrium energy distribution function by Eq. (1.1). That is, to consider the plasma
species as locally Maxwellians by using,

m v 2
 
m
f (v, r t) = n (r, t) ( )3/2 exp (4.15)
2kB T (r, t) 2kB T (r, t)

where the density n ( r, t) and temperature kB T ( r, t) are non-uniform and/or time depen-
dent.
This approximation has the implicit assumption of the existence of fast energy relaxation
processes in the plasma, or equivalently, of large collision frequencies. The collisions lead
the energy fluctuations to relax fast to an local equilibrium state described by the Maxwell
Boltzmann distribution. This local Maxwellian approximation is therefore valid when the
spatial and time changes in the plasma properties are much lower that the characteristic time
and length scales for collisions.
Then, the essential requisite is that the plasma properties slowly vary in time and have
smooth changes in space. The local Maxwellian distribution of the Eq. (4.15) may be under-
stood as resulting from an small perturbation f1 (v, r, t) of Eq. (1.1) as,

f (v, r t) = fo (v) + f1 (v, r, t)

where |f1 |  |fo |.

Then, the properties of this plasma obviously are neither constant in time nor homogeneous
in space. The restrictive requisites for thermodynamic equilibrium condition are therefore
weaken, and non equilibrium phenomena, as the particle transport are considered. Neverthe-
less, it should be stressed that the local Maxwellian plasma constitutes a useful approximation
but is not the actual velocity distribution function of the plasma species.

46
 The physical models for plasmas
5
In Chapter 1.1 we introduced the plasmas as a mixture of interacting electrons, ions and neutral
atoms in thermodynamic equilibrium. In this situation, all particle species are described by
a Maxwell Boltzmann energy distribution with a common temperature kB Te = kB Ti = kB Ta .
The plasma parameters (plasma frequency, Debye length and plasma parameter) were intro-
duced for this ideal Maxwellian plasma in Sec. (1.5). However, as discussed in Sec. (1.3), the
transport of neither particles, momentum nor energy is possible in this restrictive equilibrium
state. The ideal Maxwellian plasmas are scarcely found in both, neither in nature nor the
laboratory as discussed in Sec. (4.6). Most plasmas usually are found in partial equilibrium,
as the glow discharge plasma of Fig. (2.5) in Sec. (2.4) where visible light is emitted and the
electric current flows through the plasma bulk.
In order to account for the non equilibrium properties properties of plasmas new concepts
and more involved physical models are required. In the scheme of Fig. (5.1) are represented
the essential stationary and time dependent macroscopic and microscopic approaches. The
plasma state is placed at the top as an electrically neutral fluid like medium of interacting
particles as discussed in Sec. (2.1).
The macroscopic models consider this medium as a continuum where a huge number of
particles are contained within volumes with characteristic sizes V 3D  L3 much smaller
that the macroscopic lengths L involved. The microscopic theories are based upon the fact
that plasmas are constituted by interacting atoms and/or molecules. The calculations of the
physical magnitudes require of new concepts and are obtained as statistical averages over a
large number of particles.
The thermodynamics is the macroscopic theory concerned with equilibrium fluids at rest.
They are described by time independent variables, uniform in space as the temperature T ,
density , enthalpy h, ...etc. The thermodynamics also relies on additional material dependent
relations, as the equations of state or the specific heats which may be supplied by either the
experiments or other considerations.
In the macroscopic approach, the equation for the fluid motion are directly derived by
the application of the conservations of mass, momentum and energy, ignoring most particular
details of the constituent particles. The motions of fluids are described by using mechanical
magnitudes as the velocity u(r, t) and density (r, t), ...etc. More relations, as the transport

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Escuela de Ingeniera Aeronutica y del Espacio Universidad Politcnica de Madrid

The system Ensemble of Statistical averages

is considered as a interacting particles considering individual
continuum Microscopic and atomic particles
processes
Macroscopic Microscopic
models models

Equilibrium Non equilibrium Equilibrium Non equilibrium

time independent time dependent time independent time dependent

Fluid Statistical Kinetic

Thermodynamics
Dynamics mechanics Theory

Ther. Variables Mech. Variables Partition Velocity

density fluid velocity function Distribution
T Temperature u( r, t), density function
Z (, T)
H Enthalpy ... ( r, t), ... f( v, r, t)

External External External External

Information Information Information Information
The equation of The transport The atomic The cross
state of the coeficients: energy levels, sections of
system viscosity, degeneracies, atomic and
thermal ... molecular
conductivity, ... collisions, ...

Link! Calculation of
Transport the transport
coefficients coefficients

Figure 5.1: The more relevant physical models for an statistical ensemble of interacting particles.

48
Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

coefficients, are needed to close the fluid equations. Then, the viscosity, thermal conductivity,
...etc also need to be supplied by external considerations or obtained from the experiments.
The microscopic approaches are less dependent on experimental information. The statisti-
cal mechanics is concerned from the microscopic point of view with the same kind of systems
than equilibrium thermodynamics. The fundamental concept is the partition function from
which may be derived material dependent relations not available in thermodynamics as the
equation of state or the specific heats. The calculations require of microscopic information
obtained from the experiment as the atomic or molecular energy levels its degeneracy, ...etc.
In this chapter we are mainly concerned with the kinetic description of plasmas. The
kinetic theories make use of an statistical approach based on the velocity distribution function
f (r, v, t) that may be different for each particle specie ( = e, i, a) in the plasma. These
probabilistic functions depend on the particle speed v its position r and also may evolve in
time. The macroscopic properties, as the local gas pressure or temperature result from averages
of f (r, v, t) using appropriate operators for the physical magnitudes. The ideal Maxwell
Boltzmann distribution f (r, v, t) ' f (|v|) is recovered in the limit of the thermodynamic
equilibrium.
These kinetic models essentially apply when f (r, v, t) appreciably changes along the typ-
ical length L and/or the time scale T of the plasma. In particular, when the mean collisional
free paths are comparable to the characteristic size of the plasma volume considered. How-
ever, these models are quite complex even for the simplest physical situations.
The fluid equations are more intuitive compared with the kinetic theories and this fact
makes the fluid models attractive. However, they are essentially only valid when f (r, v, t)
changes smoothly along typical distances L  much larger than the relevant collisional
mean free path . This slowly varying distribution function over distances much larger than
justifies the local Maxwellian approximation previously discussed in Sec. (4.6.2).
In both, the fluid and kinetic descriptions the properties of the elementary processes, as
the elastic and inelastic particle collisions discussed in Sec. (4.4) need to be introduced.
For instance, the energy transfer between particle species by elastic collisions, the ionization
and recombination rates, ...etc. In the kinetic description they are incorporated by means
of collision operators that account for the changes introduced in f (r, v, t) by the collisional
processes.
These operators provide the coupling between the velocity distributions f (r, v, t) for the
different species of the plasma. The transport coefficients of required by the fluid equations
are also calculated by averaging over the collisional operators. This is indicated by the link in
the scheme of Fig. (5.1). For example, as we shall see, this is the origin of the particle source
and sink terms in the fluid continuity equation.

5.1 The kinetic description of plasmas

The kinetic description considers the velocity distribution function f (v, r, t) for the three
plasma species = e, i, a of electrons, ions and neutral atoms. The governing equation for
the spatial an temporal evolution of f (v, r, t) is the Boltzmann equation which accounts
for the particle sink and source terms as well as the forces acting on each plasma species.

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The solution of this partial differential equation are the time dependent velocity distribution
functions f (r, v, t) for the nonequilibrium states.
As we shall see, the fluid equations for a plasma could be deduced from averages of the
Boltzmann equation by using an unspecified nonequilibrium distribution f (r, v, t) for the
plasma species. Nevertheless, a key point still remains open, the explicit expression for
f (r, v, t) is needed for the calculation of the transport coefficients (thermal conductivity,
viscosity, ...etc). Therefore, additional approximations and/or assumptions are required for
the closure of the fluid transport equations.
The number of particles dN with velocities between v and v +dv of each specie contained
in the infinitesimal volume dr = d3 r located at the point r is given by,

dN = f ( v, r, t) dv dr

The particle density n (r, t) at the point r is obtained by integration of all possible velocities
of particles contained into d3 r and,
Z + Z +
n ( r, t) = f ( v, r, t) dv and then, N = n ( r, t) dr (5.1)

Therefore, the velocity distribution function could be also considered as a probability distri-
bution using f = f /n (r, t). Then,

+ +
1
Z Z
1= f ( v, r, t) dv or equivalently, 1 = f ( v, r, t) dv (5.2)
n

and we may interpret f dv as the probability of finding a particle in the volume dr3 = dr
with velocity within the range v and v + dv. Then the average local velocity is,

+ +
1
Z Z
u ( r, t) = v f ( v, r, t) dv = v f ( v, r, t) dv (5.3)
n ( r, t)

In addition,

The velocity distribution function is said inhomogeneous when changes with r and ho-
mogeneous otherwise.
When f (v, r, t) depends on the direction of the speed de v it is said anisotropic and
isotropic when is a function of v = |v|.
The velocity distribution function f (v, r) is stationary when (f /t = 0) .

The distribution function f (t, r, v) depends on seven independent variables and its time
derivative is,
  X  f dvi 
df f X f dxi
= + +
dt t xi dt vi dt
i i

that may be cast as,

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

df f
= + v r f + a v f
dt t
The operators,

   

r i+ j+ k and, v evx + evy + ev
x y z vx vy vz z

are the ordinary gradient and v is the gradient operator with the unit vectors, (evx , evy , evz ).
In order to derive the Boltzmann equation we rewrite the previous expressions and we intro-
duce the force by unit of mass a = F /m , which is independent of the particle speed v. The
Eq. for df /dt may be simplified using the general expression,

v (A) = (v A) + A v

For the acceleration we have,

v a = q ( v E ) + q v (v B) = q v (v B)
| {z }
null E6=E(v)

Because the electric E( r, t) and magnetic B( r, t) fields are independent of v therefore,

v E = v B = 0 Furthermore, v (v B) = B (v v) + v (v B) and because
v v = 0 we may write,

a v f = q (E + v B) v f = v (a f )

By other hand, using again the identity, r (A ) = (r A) + A r and because r

v = 0 we have,

(v r f ) = r (v f )

and we obtain for the time derivative,

 
df f
= + r (v f ) + v (a f ) (5.4)
dt t
The nonequilibrium velocity distribution functions could eventually remain unaltered dur-
ing the time evolution of the system. This occurs when f /t 6= 0 and df /dt = 0 and in
this case the Eq. (5.4) is denominated Vlasov equation and its solutions are functions of the
constants of motions as also the distribution function itself.
The plasma particles interchange energy and momentum during the collisional processes
which are in the origin of the changes in the particle distribution function of colliding species.
Hence, df /dt 6= 0 and we may write,
   
df f
= = Cs (f )
dt t col.

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where Cs (f ) is an operator that we will be develop in Sec. (5.1.1) accounting for the variations
introduced in f (v, r, t) by all collisional processes. This term in Eq. (5.4) couples the time
and space evolution of the distribution functions for the different species. For the particles
we obtain,

f F
+ r (v f ) + v ( f ) = Cs (f ) (5.5)
t m

where F = Fg + q (E + v B) is the electromagnetic force, q the electric charge and Fg

other additional forces, as the gravity, ...etc. The operators r y v respectively represents
the gradients defined above.
The resulting equation (5.5) where the collisional operator Cs (f ) is still undefined is
denominated Boltzmann equation. This operator relates the changes in f (v, r, t) with the
particular properties of each elementary process where the particle specie is involved. The
Boltzmann equation 5.5 is essentially a continuity equation for the velocity distribution func-
tion in the phase space (r, v, t) where the source and sink term Cs (f ) = (df /dt)col. accounts
for the time and space evolution introduced by collisions.
The electromagnetic fields inside the plasma bulk are self consistent. They result from the
coupling between the fields produced by charged particles in the plasma and the externally
applied electromagnetic fields. The Boltzmann equation (5.5) for the evolution of f (v, r, t)
needs to be complemented with the Maxwell equations for the electric E(r, t) and magnetic
B(r, t) fields in the plasma.
The probability distribution function f (v, r, t) of Eq. (5.5) also defines the plasma density
of charged particles c and the transported current density Jc are,

X X
c = e = q n (r, t) (5.6)

X X Z +
Jc = Je = q n u = q v f ( v, r, t) dv (5.7)

and should be introduced in the Maxwell equations,

B
E = c /o E =
t
1 E Jc
B = 0 B = 2
+
c t o c2

in order to calculate the electromagnetic fields E(r, t) and B(r, t).

From a formal point of view, without a proper formulation of the collisional operator, the
kinetic approach the plasma physics may be understood as the closure of the Maxwell equa-
tions for E(r, t) and B(r, t) using Boltzmann equation (5.5). Once the particle distribution
functions are obtained the physical magnitudes as the local particle density n (r, t) in Eq.
(5.1) or the local velocity u (r, t) in Eq. (5.3) could be calculated.

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

5.1.1 The Boltzmann collision integral

In the Boltzmann equation (5.5) the collision term accounts for the changes in time introduced
in f (r, v , t) by collisions,
 
f X
= Cs (f ) = C(f , f ) (5.8)
t col

and also denominated Boltzmann collision integral. The operator C(f , f ) represents the
change in the velocity distribution function f for the particles caused by a particular
collisional process with the particles. The sum in Eq. (5.8) is extended over all particle
species and elementary processes in the plasma discussed in Chapter (4) where the particles
are involved.
The collision term of the Boltzmann equation C(f , f ) could be written in terms of the
distribution function only in two ways. The first is applicable for dilute gases and plasmas
where the particles are essentially subjected to individual binary collisions.
The other method applies to dense gases and plas-
mas when the particle is subjected to the attractive dn
and repulsive forces from many other particles simul-
taneously and individual binary collisions do not exist.
g(E, t)

g( E', t)
In this case the collision term of the Boltzmann equa-
tion is proportional to the first and higher derivatives g( E', t+t)
g( E, t+ t)

of the distribution function, this is called the Fokker-

Planck equation. g( E, t)

Here we are interested in dilute gases and plasmas E E+E E

where binary collisions are dominant and the collision dn'
term, E' E'+E

Figure 5.2: The time evolution of the

 
f
C(f , f ) = distribution function g(E, t).
t

represents the change in time of f (r, v , t) of the projectile particles for a given collision
process with the target particles . For binary collisions the change is equal to the difference
between the rate at which the particles are added to the distribution function, (f /t)+
and the rate (f /t)
at which are removed.
This process is illustrated in the scheme of Fig. (5.2) where the isotropic energy distribution
function g(E, t) which evolves in time between t and t + t under an unspecified collisional
process. Within the energy interval (E 0 , E 0 + dE) the density dn0 = g(E 0 , t + t) dE of
particles decreases, while in the range (E, E + dE) the density dn = g(E, t + t) dE grows
because g(E, t + t) > g(E, t).
In the case of Fig. (5.2) most particles are accelerated during t because the distribution
function g(E, t) is shifted towards higher energies. The increment [g(E, t + t) g(E, t)] dE
gives,
g(E, t + t) g(E, t)
 
g
dE ' dE > 0
t t

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that represents the variation in time of the number of particles by volume unit dn with energies
within the interval (E, E + dE).
Because the energy of an individual particle is usually
different after and before the collision event, the variation
Z
(g/t) comes from two sources. First, the loss of particles b
with original energies within (E, E + dE) that are acceler- db
ated or retarded during t and acquire different energies.
In second place, those that after experience the collision, g
fall in the energy range (E, E + dE). g t
In more general terms, when the particle with ve-
locity v collides with the particle within the volume
r + dr it will usually get a different speed and is therefore
removed from interval f (r, v , t) dv . The rate of removal d
(f /t)col dv is proportional to the number of collisions
per unit time that withdraw particles within the volume Figure 5.3: The projectile parti-
(r, r + dr) from the velocity range (v , v + dv ), cles P inside the cylindrical section
as in Fig. (4.4).
 
f
dv
t

In addition, collisions also bring particles within the range (v , v + dv ) and (r, r + dr), and
therefore,

  " +   #
f f f
dv = dv
t t t

In order to evaluate this time variation we generalize the collision process discussed in Sec.
(4.1) between two particles and , the latter could be regarded in first place as an scattering
center. Their relative velocity is g = v v in the frame where the particle remains at
rest (also see Fig. 4.4) and dn = f (r, v , t) dv is the density of incident particles. These
are enclosed within the cylindrical section of Fig. (5.3) with height |g| t and area b db d has
the volume,

V = (|g| t) (b db) d

defined by the impact parameter b that contains dn V incident particles inside. There-
fore, the number of collisions with a single particle with velocity v during t is,

dN = dn V = ( f (r, v , t) dv ) ( |g| t b db d )

The density of scattering particles with speeds within (v , v +dv ) is dn = f (r, v , t) dv

and, consequently, the number of collisions by volume unit is obtained by multiplying dN by
the density dn of collision centers,

dn dn V

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

As mentioned before, by direct collisions the particles are removed from the velocity interval
(v , v + dv ) and the total number of such direct collisions between and particles with
during t gives,
 
f
dv t = f (r, v , t) f (r, v , t) (| g| t b db d ) dv dv
t

However, the inverse collisions with particles also increase the number of particles
with speeds with velocities in the range (v , v + dv ) within the volume V . This increment
results from particles with initial speeds into (v0 , v0 + dv0 ) which after the collision event
reach velocities in the interval (v , v + dv ). Similar arguments as above apply to such
inverse collisions and the number of particles added to the velocity interval (v , v + dv )
during t. Therefore,
 +
f
dv t = f (r, v0 , t) f (r, v0 , t) ( |g 0 | t b db d ) dv0 dv0
t

where g 0 = v0 v0 and the term ( b db d ) remains unchanged because of the symmetry of

collision process under time reversal. Using Eq. (4.7) we may replace,

b db d = (g, ) d d = (g, ) d

where d is the solid angle of figure (4.4). The change in the particle distribution function is,

  " +   #
f f f
C(f , f ) dv = dv = dv
t t col t col

and writing, f0 = f (r, v0 , t) and f0 = f (r, v0 , t) we obtain,

C(f , f ) dv = f0 f0 |g 0 | dv0 dv0 f f |g| dv dv (g, ) d

The properties of each particular collision are introduced at this point, for example, in
elastic collisions the energy is conserved and hence,

|g| = |v v | = |v0 v0 | = |g 0 |

and also dv dv = dv0 dv0 . Therefore, the Boltzmann collision integral C(f , f ) for the
elastic collisions between the and particles becomes,
Z Z
f0 f0 f f |g| (g, ) d dv


C(f , f ) = (5.9)

This collision integral connects the cross sections (see Sec. 4.1) of elementary processes
described in Chap. (4) with the time evolution of the velocity distribution function. As we
can see, the properties of collisions at microscopic level determine the macroscopic transport
properties of the plasma.

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5.2 The transport fluid equations

The following derivation of the transport fluid equations essentially comes from the classical
Ref. [18] and an introductory approach is in Ref. [25]. An updated and rigorous formulation
is found in Ref. [19].
The macroscopic fluid transport equations for a plasma are deduced by taking moments of
the Boltzmann equation (5.5) where the low order moments are proportional to the averages of
physical magnitudes. The moment M (k) (r, t) of order k of the distribution function g(v, r, t)
is formally defined as the tensor,
Z +
M (k) (r, t) = (v v v) g( v, r, t) dv (5.10)
| {z }
k times
The complete set of moments M (k) (r, t) for k = 1, 2, . . . characterizes g(v, r, t) when the
distribution function is smooth enough.
These moments are tensors or scalars related with the averages in the phase space of
quantities of physical interest. For the particle specie , the average of the function H (v, r, t)
is defined in the phase space (r, v) as,

+
1
Z
< H (v, r, t) >= H ( v, r, t ) f ( v, r, t) dv (5.11)
n

Taking H (v, r, t) = 1 we obtain the normalization condition < H >= 1 (see Eq. 5.2) or
equivalently,
Z +
n ( r, t) = f ( v, r, t) dv

that corresponds to the local particle density of Eq. (5.1). Using H (v, r, t) = v the average
< H >= u (r, t) provides the flux of particles,
Z +
(r, t) = n ( r, t) u (r, t) = v f ( v, r, t) dv (5.12)

and is related with the local velocity u (r, t) of Eq. (5.3).

The second order moment is the tensor H (v, r, t) = v v provides the flux of momentum
in the laboratory frame and is denominated stress tensor,
Z +
e (r, t) =
S m (v v) f ( v, r, t) dv (5.13)

The average kinetic energy is proporcional to H (v, r, t) = (v v) = v 2 while the density flux
of energy is related with H (v, r, t) = v 2 v,

+
m v 2
Z
K (r, t) = ( ) v f ( v, r, t) dv (5.14)
2

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We now face the problem of the closure of plasma fluid equations because the rigorous
mathematical formulation requires the determination of all moments M (k) (r, t) of the particle
distribution function for k = 1, . . . , N . However, the fluid transport equations only make use
of few averages, as u (r, t), S
e (r, t), K (r, t), ... etc, which are related with measurable
physical quantities. These equations will always be always incomplete because couple the low
order with higher order moments. For example, the continuity equation relates n with the
speed u , which in turn depends on S e through the momentum transport equation, ... etc.
We shall return in Sec. (5.2.5) to the problem of the closure which is inherent to the fluid
description of a plasma.
Since the fluid equations result from averages, the transport phenomena over short times
and length scales of microscopic level result smoothed out. Therefore, the fluid models are
useful when the collisional mean free paths of all species are much shorter than the char-
acteristic lengths of macroscopic motion of the plasma. The frequent collisions over short
distances bring the plasma into a local or partial equilibrium as discussed in Sec. (4.6) where
the macroscopic magnitudes n (r, t), kB T (r, t), ...etc are not uniform and time dependent.

5.2.1 The averages of the distribution function.

In the fluid approximation the velocity of a particle v = u + w is expressed as the sum of

a streaming fluid speed u ( r, t) defined by Eq. (5.12) and a random or velocity w. The
averages over the components of w are < wx >=< wy >=< wz >= 0, while < w2 > is always
positive. Hence,

+
m v 2
Z
E (r, t) = f ( v, r, t) dv
2
is equivalent to,

m 2 m 2 u2
E = n < v >= n (u + < w2 >) = + Ei (5.15)
2 2 2
The first term with = m n represents the kinetic energy and the second Ei is the
corresponding local internal energy. Each plasma particle specie may be regarded as an
ideal gas and in this case, Ei = kB T /( 1).
We assume the existence of local equilibrium for each specie in the plasma (equivalently, its
velocity distribution function could be approximated by a local Maxwellian as in Sec. 4.6.2).
The local kinetic temperature 1 kB T (r, t) for the particle specie is defined as,

+
3 m w 2
Z
n (r, t)kB T (r, t) = ( ) f ( v, r, t) dv (5.16)
2 2
Equivalently, the internal energy is calculated through Eq. (5.11) as the average of the scalar
function ei =< H > where,

m 2
H = w
2
1
For simplicity, the particles are considered as an ideal monoatomic gas with 1/( 1) = 3/2.

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The stress tensor (5.13) is given by the second order moment,

Z +
e (r, t) =
S m (v v) f ( v, r, t) dv = m n (r, t) < v v > (5.17)

and in matrix notation the components are,

vx2 vx vy vx vz

vy vx vy2 vy vz
vz vx vz vy vz2

Again, using v = u + w the average of the components of the stress tensor are of the form
< (ui + wi )(uj + wj ) > hence,

Sij = m n (< ui uj > + < wi wj > +ui < wj > +uj < wi >)

where < wi > are null. We have,

e = m n (u u ) + m n < w w >
S

e = m n < w w > could be written as the sum of the two tensors,

The second term G
G = P + where,
e e e

< wx2 >

0 0
Pe = m n 0 < wy2 > 0
0 0 2
< wy >

0 < wx wy > < wx wz >
e = m n < wy wx >
0 < wy wz > (5.18)
< wz wx > < wz wy > 0

Both e are symmetric matrices where < wi wj >=< wj wi > are equal. Because the
e and G
speed w is random we have,

< w2 >
< wx2 >=< wy2 >=< wz2 >=
3

Then, the tensor Pe is proportional to the unity matrix Ie and its trace may be identified with
the usual scalar pressure,

1
p = T r(Pe )
3
or equivalently using the Eq. (5.11) with,

+
m m n
Z
p (r, t) = w2 f ( v, r, t) dv = < w2 >
3 3

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This is in agreement with the previous expression for the kinetic temperature (5.16) and both
magnitudes are related by the equation of state for the ideal gas,

p (r, t) = n (r, t) kB T (r, t)

The components < wi wj > outside the diagonal in the tensor e will be develop later and
are related with other components of the stress tensor, as the viscosity in ordinary fluids. The
final form of the stress tensor is,

e = m n (u u ) + p Ie +
S e (5.19)

Finally, for the vector of energy density flux K (r, t) we have,

+
m v 2 m n
Z
K (r, t) = ( ) v f ( v, r, t) dv = < v2 v > (5.20)
2 2

After substitution, the terms non null are,

< v 2 v >= (u2 + < w2 >) u + < w2 w > + 2 < (w u ) w >

The first term proportional to the transport of the energy E u introduced in Eq. (5.15).
The components of the last vector are of the form, A =< (w u ) w >,

X
A =< ( wj uj ) w >
j

for the k component,

X X
Ak =< ( wj uj ) wk >= < wj wk > uj
j j

this is equivalent to the contraction of the symmetric second order tensor G

e con u . Hence,

A =< (w u ) w >= G
e : u

The heat flux density vector for the particle specie is defined as,

+
m w 2 m n
Z
q = ( ) w f ( v, r, t) dv = < w2 w > (5.21)
2 2

and we obtain,

K (r, t) = E u + q + G
e : u (5.22)

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5.2.2 The equation of continuity.

The continuity fluid equation for the particle specie is obtained integrating the Eq. (5.5)
over all possible velocities,

+ + + +
f
Z Z Z Z
Fe
dv + r (v f ) dv + v ( f ) dv = Cs (f ) dv
t m

The details of the integral over the Boltzmann collision operator Cs (f ) will be discussed later
and for the two first terms the integrals over v can be permuted with the operators. Using
the divergence theorem for the third term we obtain,

+ + +

Z Z Z Z
Fe
f dv + r (v f ) dv + ( f ) dS = Cs (f ) dv
t s(v) m
| {z }
f is bounded 0

The two first integrals are n y n u , and because f is a bounded function the third integral
is null. Finally we obtain the continuity equation for the specie ,

+
n
Z
+ r (n u ) = Cs (f ) dv
t

The right term represents the moment of the Boltzmann collisional operator that will be
discussed later in detail. This equation may be also interpreted as the time derivative of the
particle number density n (r, t) as,

  +
dn n X n dxi
Z
= + = Cs (f ) dv
dt t xi dt
i

Therefore, as discussed in Secs. ([Link]) and ([Link]) the above integral of the Boltzmann
collision operator Cs (f ) represents the difference between the source and sink term for the
particles,

Z +
Cs (f ) dv = F S (5.23)

Using Eqs. (4.8) and (4.12) we have, F = I ne y S = kR ni ne respectively are the number
of particles produced or destroyed by time unit. Finally the fluid continuity equation becomes,

n
+ r (n u ) = F S (5.24)
t

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5.2.3 The momentum transport equation.

The next moment of the Boltzmann equation with physical meaning is obtained by multiplying
the Eq. (5.5) by m v and later integrating over the velocities v,

+ Z + Z + Z +
f
Z
m v dv + m v r (v f ) dv + m v v (Fe f )dv = m v Cs (f ) dv
t

The first term is,

+
f
Z
m v dv = m (n < v >) = m (n u )
t t t

while the second is transformed using the vector identity,

r [v (v f )] = [v r ] (v f ) + [(f v) r ] v = (v r )(v f )
| {z }
0

Hence,

Z + Z + 
m v r (v f ) dv = r m (v v) f dv = r (m n < v v >)

e (r, t) = m n (r, t) < v v > of Eq. (5.17). Again,

and we recover the stress tensor S

v [(Fe f ) v] = (v v ) (Fe f ) + (Fe f v ) v = v v (Fe f ) + f Fe

where (Fe f v ) v = f Fe . The third integral becomes the sum of two terms,
Z + Z + Z +
v v (Fe f ) dv = v [f (v Fe )] dv f Fe dv

| {z }
(Div. Theor. 0)

Because the distribution function is bounded, the integral over the divergence is null again.
Then,
Z + Z +
n < Fe >= q E f dv + q ( [ v f dv] B )

and using again the Eqs. (5.1) and (5.3) for n and u we introduce the electric charge density
e = q n and current density Je = q n u for the specie ,

n < Fe >= q n [E + (u B)] = e E + Je B

Now, the equation for momentum transport reads,

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m (n u ) + r S
e = e E + Je B + R
t

where the vector R represents the first moment of the Boltzmann collision operator,

Z +
R = m v Cs (f ) dv (5.25)

that will be discussed later. The divergence of the stress tensor S

e becomes,

r S
e = r [n (u u )] + r (p I)
e + r
e

r S
e = n (u r ) u + u [r (n u )] + r p + r
e

Substituting in the above transport equation we have,

 
u n
m n + m u + r (n u ) + m n (u r ) u
t t
+r p + r
e = e E + Je B + R

The second term may be related with the fluid continuity equation (5.24),

 
n
m u + r (n u ) = m u (F S )
t

This represents the increase or decrese of momentum associated with the production or loss
of particles. Finally, the momentum transport equation results as,

Du
m n = r p r
e m u (F S ) + e E + Je B + R (5.26)
Dt

where is introduced the operator D/Dt = /t + (u r ) .

The Eq. (5.26) is equivalent to the transport equation for a macroscopic fluid with electric
charge density e and current density Je . In addition to the Coulomb interaction, the
motion of the particles in the plasma may be also eventually coupled by collisions with other
particle species as neutrals. In fact, in Eq. (5.26) the vector R and the tensor
e accounting
for momentum exchange by collisions remain undetermined. Therefore, in order to complete
the fluid transport equations, detailed models are required for the different particle collisions
between in the collision operator Cs (f ) and its moments as Eqs. (5.23) and (5.25).

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5.2.4 The energy transport equation.

The moment of the Boltzmann equation related with the transport of energy is calculated by
multiplying the Eq. (5.5) by m v 2 /2 and integrating and over the velocity as before,

m v 2 m v 2
(n < >) + r (n < v >)
t 2 2
m + 2
Z +
m v 2
Z
+ v v (Fe f )dv = Cs (f ) dv (5.27)
2 2

In the following, Q represents the second moment of the collision operator Cs (f ),

+
m v 2
Z
Q = Cs (f ) dv (5.28)
2

that will be discussed later in detail. The integrand of the third term is transformed by using,

v (F v 2 f ) = v 2 v (F f ) + (f F ) (v v 2 )

and therefore,

Z + Z + Z +
2 2
v v (Fe f ) dv = v (v Fe f ) } dv (Fe f ) v (v 2 ) dv
| {z }
(Div. Theor. 0)

The first integral is again null by using the divergence theorem and v (v 2 ) = 2 v,
Z + Z +
2
(Fe f ) v (v ) dv = (Fe f ) (2v) dv = 2n < F v >

where the last term is related with the work of the electric field. Introducing the current
density J as before and using the Eq. (5.15) the transport equation reads,

E m n m 2
+ r ( < v 2 v >) + ( Je E) = Q
t 2 2 m

The average < v 2 v > is related with the second order moment K (r, t) previously introduced
in Eq. (5.22) and we obtain,

E
+ r (E u ) + r q + r (G
e : u ) = Je E + Q
t
This results into an energy transport equation, using dE/dt = DE/Dt we find,

dE E
= + r (E u ) = r q r (G
e : u ) + Je E + Q (5.29)
dt t

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The time variation of energy inside a volume V is calculated again by using the divergence
theorem,

d
Z Z Z Z Z
E dr = q ds e : u ) ds +
(G Je E dr + Q dr (5.30)
dt V S S V V

Therefore, the gain or loss of energy within the volume V is caused by the flux of energy q
through the enclosing surface S and the work of the electric field associated to the charge
transport term Je E. Two additional terms (G e : u ) and Q account for the energy
variation within V originated by the collisional interaction of the particles.
e = p Ie +
Finally, by introducing G e in the Eq. (5.29) we obtain,

e : u = p u +
G e : u

and the usual energy fluid transport equation is deduced,

u2 u2
   

( + ei ) + r ( + h ) u = Je E r q
t 2 2
r (
e : u ) + Q (5.31)

where h = ei + p/ is the specific enthalpy of the particle specie .

In this transport equation still remain undetermined the heath flux vector q , Q and
the components of the tensor e . These terms account for the collisional energy exchange
between the different species in the plasma and brings back again into the aforementioned
problem of the closure of the fluid transport equations.

5.2.5 The closure of the fluid transport equations

The fluid transport equations (5.24), (5.26) and (5.31) for the particles ( = e, i, a ) in a
plasma have been derived from the Boltzmann equation (5.5) under the assumption of the
existence of a local equilibrium,

n
+ r (n u ) = F S (5.32)
t
Du e m u (F G ) + F e + F g + R
= r p r (5.33)
Dt
DE
= r (p u ) + J E r q r (
e : u ) + Q (5.34)
Dt

Here, E = (u2 /2 + ei ) represents the energy the electromagnetic force is Fe while Fg are
other additional external forces as the gravity, ...etc.
However, in Eqs. (5.32-5.34) still remain undetermined the heat flux vector q , the col-
lisional momentum exchange vector R the tensor e , and also Q . For macroscopic fluids
this problem is solved for by using phenomenological expressions as for the heat flux,

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

q = r T

where is the thermal conductivity and T the local temperature. However this is not fully
justified in the case of plasmas, where a different vector q would be required for each = e, i, a
particle specie. In addition, the transport equations have been derived by averaging over an
undetermined particle distribution function f ( v, r, t). The explicit expression for this later
would be required in Eq. (5.21),

+
m w2
Z
q = ( )w f ( v, r, t) dv
2

to evaluate this integral. Similar arguments apply to the other indeterminate quantities that
appear in Eqs. (5.32-5.34). We face the problem of the closure of the fluid transport equations.
In order to find the expressions for the undetermined variables in the fluid equations (5.32-
5.34) is reauired the formulation of a particular model for the plasma or equivalently the
specific form of the velocity distribution function f ( v, r, t).
This represents an unavoidable problem in the fluid equations (5.24- 5.26) couple low order of
with higher order moments of f ( v, r, t). The particle density n (r, t) is coupled with the
speed u in Eq. ( 5.32) which in turn depends on the tensor
e in Eq. (5.33), the latter is also
found in Eq. (5.34) with q . The above derivation of the fluid equations only considers the
first three moments of the Boltzmann equation with physical meaning, but the process could
continue indefinitely. Any set finite transport equations will always contain more unknowns
than equations.
The two available schemes to circumvent this difficulty is to truncate the moment ex-
pansion, assuming the higher order moments arbitrarily as zero, or on the basis of physical
assumptions. The second possibility is to find a it small parameter  and to develop an
asymptotic power approximation. Despite its mathematical complexity, this procedure has the
advantage of a systematic approach that provides an estimate of error made.
The classical asymptotic scheme is the Chapman-Enskog theory [17] valid for rarefied (low
pressure) neutral gases dominated by collisions. The small parameter is the ratio  = /L
between the collisional mean free path and the macroscopic scale L. The velocity distribution
function is developed in powers as,

fa ( v, r, t) = f0a ( v, r, t) +  f1a ( v, r, t) + 2 f2a ( v, r, t) +

where the functions f0a , f1a , ... are assumed of the same order. On practical grounds only
two expansion terms are calculated and the equilibrium Maxwell Boltzmann distribution cor-
responds to the zero order f0a in ,

3/2
(u v)2
  
m
f0 (v, r, t) = n (r, t) exp
2kB T 2kB T

The direct substitution of f0 (v, r, t) in the Eqs. (5.21) and (5.18) for leads to qa = 0
and e a = 0. Therefore, the non Maxwellian distribution f1a (v, r, t) accounts for the particle
transport and the departure from the equilibrium state of the plasma.

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For neutral fluids the Chapman-Enskog theory applies for any type of intermolecular forces
with shorter range than Coulomb forces and the unknowns in Eqs. (5.32-5.34) can be calcu-
lated. The results are similar to ordinary fluids, for the tensor components of
e a are,

 
uia uja 2
ij = a + (r ua ) ij and also qa = a r Ta
xj xi 3

For the mean free path and collision frequency a between neutrals, the coefficients of
thermal conductivity a = ma na t and viscosity = ma na v are calculated as, as,

2
 
75 3
v = a 1+ + = Av a 2 (5.35)
64 202
2
 
5 1
t = a 1+ + = At a 2 (5.36)
16 44

where a = Vth / is the collision frequency between neutral atoms.

These equations have a simple physical interpretation; as the viscosity and thermal con-
ductivity can be understood in terms of random diffusion molecules. The particles perform
random jumps of average length between two successive collisions a times per unit time.
The above expansions Av and At are therefore constants of proportionality.
The application of the Chapman-Enskog theory to plasmas is more involved and constitutes
and active field of research. The above expressions for neutral fluids are complicated by the
presence of charged particles interacting through long range Coulomb forces. The collisions
between different particle species introduce additional complexities.

5.2.6 The friction coefficients

In addtion to q and e the transport equations (5.32-5.34) involve the moments of the
Boltzmann collision operator discussed in Sec. (5.1.1). The first integral is intuitive and
related with the production F and loss rates S of the particles,

+
dn
Z
= F S = Cs (f ) dv
dt

The higher order moments involve the energy and momentum transfer,

+ +
m v 2
Z Z
R = m v Cs (f ) dv Q = Cs (f ) dv
2

coupling the motions of the different particle species in Eqs. (5.24), (5.26) and (5.31).
These calculations are difficult and require of an appropriate expression for the Boltzmann
collision operator Cs (f ) = (f /t)col with a detailed physical model for each collisional
process involved. As we have seen in Chap. (4) they depend on the value of the cross section
for and the energy range of interest.

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The simplest scheme available to evaluate R and Q is to make use of the so called
Krook collisional model. The time evolution of f (v, r, t) for small departures from the
plasma equilibrium state is,

df f f0 1
Cs (f ) = = = f1 (v, r, to )
dt c c

where c = 1/c is the characteristic relaxation time. Equivalently, the perturbed distribution
function is,

f (v, r, t) ' f0 (v, r, to ) + f1 (v, r, to ) et/c

where c is the collision time scale that brings the system back to the equilibrium state.
In plasmas with a low ionization degree the collisions of charged particles with the abundant
background of neutral atoms are dominant. The Krook operator leads to the so called friction
coefficients from which we can estimate the relevance of each collisional process.
From a macroscopic point of view, we can intuitively understand the collisional interaction
between the plasma the species as a friction caused by their relative motion. The total friction
force friction R exerted on the specie is the sum of those performed on the same all the
others,
X
R = R

and the global momentum conservation requires, R = R . and,

X
R = 0 (5.37)

When the particle distribution function of particles can be approximated by a local Maxwellian
(see Sec. 4.6.2) and the drift velocities u y u are small compared with the thermal speeds
VT h  u , u , the friction force between the two species could be approximated by,

R = A (u u ) (5.38)

where A = A > 0 represents the magnitude of the friction force between the and
species. This friction force represents a momentum and energy transfer mechanism between
the different particle species. The gain or loss of energy rate Q is the sum of the exchanged
energies,
X
Q = Q

and because R = R we have,

Qtot = Q + Q = R u R u = R (u u )

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The plasma momentum balance Eq. (5.37) is null, contrary to the above equation for the
plasma energy rate. The energy balance is not satisfied because the plasma fluid equations
apply for non equilibrium plasmas where elementary processes, as light emission, ionizations,
...etc dissipate energy. Therefore, an external source of energy , i.e. an electric field, is required
to sustain this partial equilibrium plasma state.

[Link] Elastic collisions.

In the elastic collisions there is no change in neither the internal state nor in the kinetic energy
of colliding particles. The strength of the friction force A in Eq. (5.38) must be a function
of the following quantities,

m m
A n , n , = , , Vcol
m + m

Here, Vcol is a characteristic molecular velocity related with the temperature of colliding
species, and the total elastic cross section. It may be shown that,

 1/2
4 8kB T
A = n n
3

where kB T is the plasma kinetic temperature. For elastic collisions between electrons and
neutral atoms, ea
= ei = me /2 and hence,

2 2kB Te 1/2

4
Aea n n m
= e a e ea
3 me

where the characteristic energies are kB T = kB Te  kB Ti for a cold and weakly ionized
plasma. Introducing the elastic collision frequency (see Sec. 4.1) we have,

4 2 2kB Te 1/2

2 2
ea = na ea = na ea VT e
3 me 3

and VT e is the electron thermal speed. Then, the friction force between electrons and neutrals
(is similar for ion-neutral) becomes,

Rea = me ne ea (ue ua )

In the general case, for two colliding species and we have,

R = m n (u u )

However, an small exchange of energy  occurs in the elastic collisions between electrons
and neutral atoms [10] given by,

m2e
 = (ve )2
2ma

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

and averaging over all the possible collision angles we obtain,

m2e ve2
 = (1 < cos() >)
ma
In order to obtain the energy rate transfer by unit volume we multiply by the number of elastic
collisions and the neutral atom density,

2me
Qea = m na e
ma
where we used the effective collision frequency for momentum transfer [10],

num = ea (1 < cos() >) ' ea

The fraction of electron energy gained by the the atom is small and proportional to the mass
ratio m = 2me /ma  1. Because e = 3kB Te /2 we have,
 
3
Qea = kB Te m na
2
and this term accounts for the energy transfer between the electrons and neutral gases being
usually rather small. However it should be included in Eq. (5.31). when the collision frequency
is large, as for high neutral gas pressures. The electrons gain energy form the electric field
that is transferred to the neutral gas raising its temperature. This thermalization effect is
evident in Fig. (4.11) where the gas temperature grows with the pressure and was discussed
in Sec. (4.6.1) within the context of the multithermal equilibrium. While the energy transfer
in an elastic collision is small, the number of collisions grows with the neutral gas pressure
and becomes of an effective mechanism for gas heating.

[Link] Ionizing collisions.

In Eq. (5.33) the production or loss of a new particle also involves changes of energy and
momentum. The ionizing electron loss an amount of energy EI equal to the ionization potential
of the neutral gas, and the new ion is created at rest with respect to the ion fluid. Therefore,
the corresponding energy rate is,

QI = Ei I
where i is the ionization frequency and is given by, I ne = kI na ne . In the frame where
both, ion and electron fluids move, the change of momentum for ions is,

RIi = mi ne I (ui ue )
while for ions,

RIe = mi ne I (ue ui )
and both terms were already considered in Eq. (5.33).

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 The boundaries of plasmas: the plasma sheaths.
6
6.1 Introduction.
The plasmas in nature and in the laboratory are limited by confining metallic or dielectric
walls which in turn interact with this physical medium. In the experiments, the plasma is
enclosed inside a vacuum tank or a glass discharge tube and the electrodes and/or the surfaces
of measuring probes are boundaries for the plasma. The metallic external surfaces of orbiting
vehicles also interact with the ionospheric plasma and, according to the electric polarity, a
charged particle current may be drained that changes the electric potential of the vehicle
with respect to its surroundings. This charging process may produce electric shocks and high
altitude electric discharges in orbiting spacecrafts.
This interaction between the dielectric or metallic external surfaces of objects with the
plasma constitutes a classical problem in plasma physics. The electric potential of a metallic
wall generally differs from the bulk plasma potential. Both values are connected along a length
scale through a plasma potential jump denominated plasma sheath where the quasineutrality
condition is not fulfilled. The current collection from a plasma takes place through the plasma
sheath and the dimension of this potential structure plays a key role in the charge collection
process.
In the following we will discuss the classical model for a one dimensional collisionless
plasma sheath in a fully ionized and cold (kB Te  kB Ti ) unmagnetized plasma. As we shall
see, the structure of an stable plasma sheath is complex and separated in two different regions
that scale with the plasma Debye length D . The presheath, where ions are accelerated up to
supersonic speed and the plasma sheath where the main plasma potential jump takes place.
This simple model does not apply apply to weakly ionized plasmas where collisions with
neutrals are dominant. In this case the collisional mean free c introduces new length scale
that competes with the Debye length D and complicates the structure of the plasma sheath.

6.2 The collisionless electrostatic plasma sheath.

In many experiments, the plasma is enclosed within a vacuum chamber of finite dimensions,
and the walls held at a negatively bias potential w > p with respect to the plasma bulk p

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as in Fig. (6.1) so that the electrons are reflected back inside. This is a common situation in
laboratory plasmas because the metallic walls of the vacuum tanks are negatively biased in
order to return the electrons to the plasma bulk to increase the ionization rate.
This situation in one dimension is represented in the scheme of Fig. (6.1). The plasma
potential is uniform in the unperturbed plasma and its spatial variation from w to p is
limited to a layer adjacent to the walls. This forms a potential barrier so that the more mobile
electrons are confined inside the vacuum chamber.
The calculation of the plasma potential from w at at the wall located at x = 0 up to the
bulk plasma p requires to solve the Poisson equation for (x) with appropriate boundary
conditions. In general, this leads to a complex nonlinear partial differential equation that
becomes reduced to a one dimensional problem by making the following assumptions:

The potential of the wall is negative for the plasma, w < p so that ions are attracted
and the electrons repelled.

Within the plasma bulk (away from the wall) the quasineutrality condition os satisfied
ne
= ni
= neo . The ions are considered cold (kB Te  TB KI ) and the electrons have a
Maxwell Boltzmann distribution.

The ionization is negligible in the volume considered; all ions entering into the plasma
sheath finally reach the wall. Then, the current density of ions i = ni ui is constant in
the sheath di /dx 0. Therefore, at each point x between plasma volume and the wall
we have, i = nio uio = ni (x) ui (x).

Under these conditions, the energy of an ion entering the sheath with velocity uio is,

1 1
mi u2i (x) + e (x) = mi u2io
2 2
It follows that the ion density can be written as:

nio uio
ni (x) = q (6.1)
u2io 2em (x)
i

This expression along with the Maxwellian electron density is introduced in the Poisson
equation for the plasma potential (x),

d2 uio
o = e neo exp (e/kB Te ) q
dx2 2 2e (x)
uio mi
p
This expression is made dimensionless using ion sound speed cis = kB Te /mi and the
following variables,

e
= , Ne = ne /neo , Ni = ni /neo , V = u/cis
kB Te

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Escuela de Ingeniera Aeronutica y del Espacio Universidad Politcnica de Madrid

With these changes the Poisson equation becomes,

d2 e e2 n
eo 1
o ( )= exp(e/kB Te ) q
dx2 kB Te kB Te 2
1 2e(x)/mi uio

where 2e/mi u2io = 2/(uio /cis )2 and finally,

" #
d2 2 1
= D e p (6.2)
dx2 1 + 2/Vo2

The solutions of this nonlinear differential equation (x)

Electrons
provide the variation of the plasma potential (x) in one
Uio Ions
dimension, normalized to the electron temperature value
Potential (x)

p
Plasma potential kB Te . We deliberately left aside the length x because
Metallic wall

profile the Eq. (6.2) shows that the natural normalization is

S = x/D that defines the length scale of the electrostatic

w sheath.
It is obviously difficult to find general solutions of the
X=0 differential equation (6.2) and therefore we only seek for
approximate solutions in the limit kB Te  e correspond-
Figure 6.1: The plasma potential
ing to < 1, when the potential jump of the sheath is
profile between the metallic wall
much lower than the thermal energy of electrons.
and the undisturbed plasma.

6.2.1 Bohm Criterion.

In the equation (6.2) with s = x/D multiplying by d/ds on both sides,

"Z 1/2 #
s s s
d2 d 2 d d
Z Z
ds = 1+ 2 ds exp() ds
so ds2 ds so Vo ds so ds

where so correspond to the coordinate where ion enters with speed uio and s < so is any point
inside the plasma sheath. Then,
s
1 d 2 s 2 s
( ) | = Vo2 1+ | + exp()|sso
2 ds so Vo2 so

where the lower limit of the left term is zero because the dimensionless electric field is negligible
at the point where the ion enters into the sheath:

d e d e
|s=so = |s=so = E|s=so
=0
ds kB Te ds kB Te

Note that the expression E = d/ds represents an electric field normalized to the length
scale that determines D . Taking at the plasma bulk (so ) ' () = 0 we obtain,

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

"s #
1 d 2 2
( ) = Vo2 1 + 2 1 + (exp () 1) (6.3)
2 ds Vo

This nonlinear equation do not have analytical solutions and only could be numerically solved.
However, an approximate expression is found when the electron thermal energy is larger than
the electrostatic energy  1. In this case the Taylor series expansion of the exponential
gives,

1 2
    
1 d 2 1 2
( ) = Vo2 1+ 2 + ... 1 + (1 + + ...) 1 > 0
2 ds Vo 2 Vo4 2
This expression must always be positive, retaining only two terms of the expansion,

1 2
 
1
Vo2 2
4
+ 2 > 0
Vo 2 Vo 2
and finally we have,
Ln(n ) 1/2
  Density c
is
= ( K BTe Mi )
1 1
2 + 1 2 > 0 n = n
Vo 2 eo io
ni U > c
io is
In order to be positive, the normalized ion
speed Vo needs to be,
n i ne < 0
ni U < c
io is
Vo > 1, uio > cis n e = n eo exp( )

This inequality is called Bohm criterion, and = e K BT e

shows that ions must enter the sheath re-
gion with a higher velocity than ion acoustic Figure 6.2: Comparison of ni () and ne () as a
speed. function of .
Therefore, the plasma potential profile close to the metallic wall needs to be divided in
two different regions. The ions coming from the undisturbed bulk plasma before entering in
the sheath need to be accelerated in order to satisfy uio > cia . This implies the existence of
a presheath, that is, an small electric field that accelerate the ions before the large potential
drop corresponding to the sheath. As we made the condition of zero electric field in the volume
plasma in Eq. (6.3), we have left the presheath included within the integration region between
so and the generic point s.
The physical meaning of the condition uio > cis could be understood by plotting the
dimensionless electron Ne () and ion Ni () (see Eq. 6.1) densities as a function of the scaled
plasma potential .

1
Ni () = q and, Ne () = exp ()
1 + 2/Vio2

In the unperturbed bulk plasma where = 0 the quasineutrality condition Ni = Ne = 1 holds

(neo = nio ) and the charged particle densities decrease inside the plasma sheath with . In
logarithm scale the electron density reduces with slope -1 while,

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Escuela de Ingeniera Aeronutica y del Espacio Universidad Politcnica de Madrid

1 2
ln Ni () = ln(1 + 2 )
2 Vo
decreases much slower as in Fig. (6.2).
The difference Ni Ne si proportional to the local charge density () = e neo (Ni Ne ) > 0
that needs to be positive because the ions are attracted and the electrons repelled ni () >
ne () in the sheath. Then, close to the origin the slope of Ni () needs to be over those of
Ne () as indicated in Fig. (6.2) and this occurs when Vo > 1.

6.2.2 Child-Langmuir current.

Since the electron density decreases rapidly with we focus our attention to the region close
to the ion collecting electrode. We start again from the equation (6.2) and Vo > 1 is the
dimensionless velocity of ions entering into the sheath,
" #
d2 1
= e p
ds2 1 + 2/Vo2

We define an initial point si < so inside the plasma sheath where we can neglect the decreasing
term exp() for si < s sw . That is, the electron density could be neglected for s si or
equivalently, 2/Vo2  1, the electrostatic energy dominates over the ion kinetic energy, and
therefore,

1/2
d2 22

Vo
= 1+ 2 =
ds2 Vo 2

Multiplying by d/ds on both sides we can integrate between si and generic point s sw in
the sheath before the location of the collecting electrode sw = xw /D ,

s s
d2 d V d
Z Z
ds = o ds
si ds2 ds si 2 ds

1 d 2 s p
( ) |si = 2 Vo |ssi
2 ds
As before the dimensionless electric field is E = d/ds and the above equation becomes,

1 2  p p 
E (s) Ei2 = 2 Vo (s) i
2
Again, we neglect the electric field Ei in the point si compared with E(s) and also (s)  i .
This simplifies the last equation,

1 d 2 p
( ) = 2 Vo
2 ds
and for values of s in the vicinity of the electrode (si < s sw = 0) we have,

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Curso 2013-2014 An introduction to Plasma Physics, ...

d 3/4
p
= 2 Vo ds
1/4

Integrating from the generic point s sw , up to the location sw 1 of the collecting metal wall
at the electric potential w = (sw ) = (0) we obtain,

4  3/4  p
w 3/4 = 21/2 Vo (sw s)
3
and taking w  (s) we can solve Vo ,

3/2
4 2 w
Vo =
9 (sw s)2

Finally, if we undo the previous change of variable we sw s = d/D where d is then the
distance point x = s D we have considered the electrode is finally:

4 2 o kB Te 1 kB Te e w 3/2
r  
uio = ( 2 )
9 e neo d2 mi kB Te

Since the ion current density is constant in the sheath can then write Ji = e ni ui = nio uo
so we get,

r 3/2
4 2e o w
Ji = nio uio =
9 mi e2 d2
which is precisely the Child-Langmuir space charge limited current for a plane diode.
This expression predicts the maximum ion current density Ji that reach the collecting elec-
trode for a potential difference w between its surface and the background plasma separated
a distance d = xw x. This current density current scales with the power 3/2 of the potential
difference w between the bulk plasma and the collecting electrode.

1
In Fig. (6.1) the metallic wall is located at x = 0, we retain the coordinate sw = 0 to evidence the location
of the ion collecting wall.

75
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