Coupled heat pulse propagation in two fluid plasmas

TL;DR

This paper investigates the complex, coupled heat pulse propagation in electron-ion plasmas, emphasizing the importance of considering separate heat diffusion channels for accurate interpretation of experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a framework to understand coupled heat diffusion in plasmas, highlighting the limitations of single fluid models and enabling simultaneous measurement of ion and electron heat channels.

Findings

Heat diffuses through two coupled channels in electron-ion plasmas.

Single fluid models often misinterpret heat pulse experiment results.

Sensitivity of electron temperature evolution to ion diffusivity enables better analysis.

Abstract

Because of the large mass differences between electrons and ions, the heat diffusion in electron-ion plasmas exhibits more complex behavior than simple heat diffusion found in typical gas mixtures. In particular, heat is diffused in two distinct, but coupled, channels. Conventional single fluid models neglect the resulting complexity, and can often inaccurately interpret the results of heat pulse experiments. However, by recognizing the sensitivity of the electron temperature evolution to the ion diffusivity, not only can previous experiments be interpreted correctly, but informative simultaneous measurements can be made of both ion and electron heat channels.