Effects of Electron-Electron Interactions on Cyclotron Resonances in Gaseous Plasmas

Abstract

The effect of mutual interactions between electrons on the cyclotron resonance of a gaseous discharge plasma has been studied. From the Boltzmann-Fokker-Planck equation in cylindrical coordinates, a set of simultaneous integro-differential equations is obtained and solved numerically on a digital computer for various values of magnetic field and electron density. The results indicate that the real part of the electrical conductivity of the plasma, and hence its power absorption, are reduced by the electron-electron interactions at the peak of the resonance, and that the width of the resonance is increased. The broadening of the resonance width becomes increasingly pronounced at higher charge concentrations. It is also found that, with the magnetic field equal to zero, the high-frequency conductivity of the plasma is practically unaltered by the electron-electron interactions. Thus the usual expression for the electrical conductivity of a Lorentzian gas cannot be used without discretion for high-density plasmas, where mutual electronic encounters cannot be ignored.