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Transport of gyration-dominated space plasmas of thermal origin. I - Generalized transport equationsGrad's 20-moment set of transport equations has been examined in the limit of strong external magnetic fields. This simplified set of equations describes the transport of mass and parallel momentum as well as the transport of parallel and perpendicular energy and heat flow in the magnetic field direction. The effect of collisions was calculated assuming a modified relaxation model. Wave speeds and normal modes of the simplified set of equations were examined for an ion and electron gas. It was found that four of the ten normal modes are electron thermal-heat waves which approximately decouple from the six ion waves in the system. When low-frequency waves are considered (slow-wave approximation), this allows the electron energy and heat flow equations to be solved separately from the ion equations and in a time-independent fashion. When this was done, it was found that, under certain conditions, these equations predict an infinite electron perpendicular temperature, Te-perpendicular, in the collisionless regime. This occurs whenever Te-perpendicular is greater than the parallel temperature, at any point along collisionless and diverging magnetic field lines. When applied appropriately, the significantly simplified set of equations derived here are well suited for application to a large variety of problems in planetary ionospheres and magnetospheres.
Document ID
19910052364
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Gombosi, Tamas I.
(Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor, MI, United States)
Rasmussen, Craig E.
(Michigan, University Ann Arbor, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
May 1, 1991
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 96
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
91A36987
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-2162
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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