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On supersonic plasma flow around an obstacle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 November 2012

J. E. ALLEN
J. E. ALLEN*
Affiliation:
University College, Oxford OX1 4BH, UK, Mathematical Institute, Oxford OX1 3LB, UK, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK ([email protected])
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Abstract

Supersonic plasma flow around an object large compared with the Debye distance is treated using an isothermal gas dynamics model. The case of (initially) subsonic flow has been studied previously using this model, the motivation then being the use of Langmuir probes. In supersonic plasma flow Mach cones describing weak discontinuities rather than shock waves are predicted. A comparison has been made with particle-in-cell simulations carried out by Willis et al. (Willis, C. T. N., Allen, J. E., Coppins, M. and Bacharis, M. 2011 Phys. Rev. E, 84, 046410), where such Mach cones are observed. Other features cannot be explained by the isothermal gas dynamics model, these include the appearance, at high supersonic velocities, of an ion-free region downstream.

Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 79 , Issue 3 , June 2013 , pp. 315 - 319
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012 

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