Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T00:37:23.151Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Kinetic equation, spin hydrodynamics and collisional depolarization rate in a spin-polarized plasma

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2009

R. Balescu
Affiliation:
Association Euratom-Etat Belge, Faculté des Sciences CP 231, Campus Plaine, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
W. Y. Zhang
Affiliation:
Association Euratom-Etat Belge, Faculté des Sciences CP 231, Campus Plaine, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium

Abstract

On the basis of our previous work, a rigorous kinetic equation for a spin-polarized plasma is derived in the weak-coupling quasi-classical limit. The macroscopic polarization vector is defined in a unified form for spin-½ and spin-1 particles. Using the kinetic equation, an equation for the macroscopic polarization density is derived in the form of a ‘spin-hydrodynamical equation’. The depolarization rate for the spin–orbit interaction and the spin–spin interaction is estimated. Some difficulties for the spin–spin interaction are displayed and discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aderca, J. B. 1974 Contribution à l'hydrodynamique et à la mećanique statistique d'un plasma quantique relativiste. Ph.D. thesis, University of Brussels.Google Scholar
Balescu, R. 1968 Acta Phys. Austriaca, 28, 336.Google Scholar
Balescu, R. 1975 Equilibrium and Nonequilibrium Statistical Mechanics. Wiley.Google Scholar
Braginskii, S. I. 1965 Reviews of Plasma Physics (ed. Leontovich, M. A.), vol. 1, p. 205. Consultants Bureau.Google Scholar
Brunelli, B. et al. (eds) 1988 Muon-Catalyzed Fusion and Fusion with Polarized Nuclei: Erice, April 1987. Plenum (to appear).Google Scholar
Cowley, S. C., Kulsrud, R. M. & Valeo, E. 1986 Phys. Fluids, 29, 430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Golant, V. E., Zhilinsky, A. P. & Sakharov, I. E. 1980 Fundamentals of Plasma Physics. Wiley.Google Scholar
Halbwachs, F. 1960 Théorie relativiste des fluides à spin. Gauthier-Villars.Google Scholar
Kulsrud, R. M., Valeo, E. J. & Cowley, S. C. 1985 Princeton Report PPPL-2099.Google Scholar
Kulsrud, R. M., Valeo, E. J. & Cowley, S. C. 1986 Nucl. Fusion, 26, 1443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Messiah, A. 1959 Mécanique Quantique, vol. 2. Dunod.Google Scholar
Zhang, W. Y. & Balescu, R. 1988 J. Plasma Phys. 40, 199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar