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Mulit-ion plasmas in astrophysics

II. Motion of isothermal plasmas in a gravitational field

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Abstract

An isothermal hydrodynamic model of the motions of a multi-ion plasma in a gravitational field is developed and the properties of the flow are discussed for the case of major astrophysical interest in which the gas undergoes a subsonic-supersonic transition. It is shown that the existence of critical points thorough which the plasma has to pass will determine a large number of the plasma parameters, especially the temperature of the minor ions. The equation of motion of a two ion gas (hydrogen-helium) are solved numerically and yield the interesting result that the bulk velocity of the plasma constituents are not equal at 1 AU.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, Ariz, USA

    E. J. Weber

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  1. E. J. Weber
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Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, under contract with the National Science Foundation.

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Weber, E.J. Mulit-ion plasmas in astrophysics. Astrophys Space Sci 20, 401–415 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00642211

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00642211

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