Hall Currents and Vortices in the Coaxial Plasma Accelerator

Abstract

The fact that the current sheet in a coaxial plasma accelerator is planar with the center conductor negative, and bullet‐shaped when the center conductor is positive can be at least partially explained by a combination of Hall currents and plasma vortices, both of which should be expected to occur in such an accelerator. This explanation asserts that the peculiar asymmetrical behavior of this accelerator is a consequence of the fundamental property of ordinary‐matter plasma: that electrons are light and positive ions are heavy. The sign of the asymmetry would be changed if antimatter plasma were employed. It is doubtful whether a planar current sheet could be achieved with a positronium plasma.