Kinetic Theory of Plasmas: Translational Energy

TL;DR

This paper develops a comprehensive kinetic theory-based fluid model for multicomponent plasmas, incorporating electromagnetic effects, thermal nonequilibrium, and anisotropic transport, with rigorous thermodynamic validation and multiscale analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a unified multiscale fluid model for plasmas derived from kinetic theory, accounting for electromagnetic influences and thermal nonequilibrium, with detailed analysis of transport phenomena and thermodynamic consistency.

Findings

Derivation of a multiscale plasma model with coupled heavy particles and electrons.

Identification of anisotropic transport coefficients under strong magnetic fields.

Validation of thermodynamic principles and hyperbolic structure of the system.

Abstract

In the present contribution, we derive from kinetic theory a unified fluid model for multicomponent plasmas by accounting for the electromagnetic field influence. We deal with a possible thermal nonequilibrium of the translational energy of the particles, neglecting their internal energy and the reactive collisions. Given the strong disparity of mass between the electrons and heavy particles, such as molecules, atoms, and ions, we conduct a dimensional analysis of the Boltzmann equation. We then generalize the Chapman-Enskog method, emphasizing the role of a multiscale perturbation parameter on the collisional operator, the streaming operator, and the collisional invariants of the Boltzmann equation. The system is examined at successive orders of approximation, each of which corresponding to a physical time scale. The multicomponent Navier-Stokes regime is reached for the heavy particles, which follow a hyperbolic scaling, and is coupled to first order drift-diffusion equations for the electrons, which follow a parabolic scaling. The transport coefficients exhibit an anisotropic behavior when the magnetic field is strong enough. We also give a complete description of the Kolesnikov effect, i.e., the crossed contributions to the mass and energy transport fluxes coupling the electrons and heavy particles. Finally, the first and second principles of thermodynamics are proved to be satisfied by deriving a total energy equation and an entropy equation. Moreover, the system of equations is shown to be conservative and the purely convective system hyperbolic, thus leading to a well-defined structure.