Stopping power: Effect of the projectile deceleration

TL;DR

This paper investigates how projectile deceleration influences the stopping force in plasma, deriving corrections that are especially significant when ions cause the stopping force.

Contribution

It introduces a correction to the stopping force accounting for projectile deceleration effects in cold plasma environments.

Findings

Correction is small for electron-induced stopping force on ions.

Correction can be significant for ion-induced stopping force.

Provides a theoretical framework for projectile deceleration effects.

Abstract

The stopping force is the force exerted on a charged projectile by the excess charge of the wake generated by the projectile in the surrounding plasma. Since the wake does not instantly adjust to the projectile velocity, the stopping force should be affected by the projectile deceleration caused by the stopping force itself. We address this effect by deriving the corresponding correction to the stopping force in a cold plasma. We find that if the projectile is an ion, the correction is small when the stopping force is due to the plasma electrons, but can be significant when the stopping force is due to the ions.