Physics – Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Nov 1998
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1998aps..dppf3i101d&link_type=abstract
American Physical Society, Division of Plasma Physics Meeting, November 16-20, 1998 New Orleans, LA, abstract #F3I.1.01
Physics
Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
The coupling parameter Γ=e^2/akT, where a is the mean ion-ion separation, expresses the ratio of the mean potential energy of ions in a plasma to their mean kinetic energy. Plasma is said to be strongly coupled when Γ is greater than unity. Transport properties of strongly coupled plasmas are of interest in the study of the structure of dense astrophysical objects and gaseous planetary interiors, as well as in arcs and laser-produced plasmas. We are attempting to measure the electrical conductivity of strongly coupled metal plasmas (copper, tungsten and aluminum) in the temperature range 8-30 kK, in a density range from about 1/2 solid density down to about 10-3 times solid density. They may have coupling parameters Γ ranging from as high as 100 down to unity Plasmas are created by rapid vaporization of metal wire in a glass capillary or in a water bath which act as a tamper, slowing the expansion rate. The effect of the tamper is to force the interior pressure of the plasma to be fairly uniform. Streak photography serves to determine the growth of the plasma radius in time, allowing determination of mean density. Temperature is deduced from the measured energy input in conjunction with an equation of state from the LANL sesame database(SESAME: The Los Alamos National Laboratory Equation of State Database, Report No. LA-UR-92-3407, Ed. S. P. Lyon and J. D. Johnson, Group T-1 (unpublished)), and a brightness temperature may be obtained from radiation measurements. The column resistance is simply determined from time-resolved voltage and current measurements. For temperatures less than about 14,000K, as density decreases from the highest values measured, the conductivity falls roughly as the cube of density, reaches a minimum, and subsequently rises to approach the Spitzer prediction at low density. The rate of change of conductivity with density becomes less rapid as temperature increases, and the minimum becomes less pronounced, disappearing altogether above about 20,000K. These results are compared with several theoretical predictions.
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