Quasi-One-Fluid Theory of Wave Propagation in a Fully Ionized Plasma

Abstract

A complete set of linearized two-fluid equations for the perturbation of a viscous, heat conducting, fully ionized plasma is transformed into an equivalent set of equations in the one-fluid quantities. The ``quasi-one-fluid'' formulation thereby obtained is applicable to a wider class of phenomena than the magnetohydro-dynamic formulation and differs from the latter because of terms corresponding to current inertia, Hall effect, space charge, diffusion, unequal electron and ion temperatures, viscous electric effects, and a viscous force arising from nonuniform currents. Dispersion relations are obtained for waves of small amplitude. Included are equations showing the effects of viscosity on electron electrostatic, ion electrostatic, and electromagnetic waves in the absence of a static magnetic field, and Alfvén waves propagating along a magnetic field.