Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Feb 1983
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1983mnras.202..467s&link_type=abstract
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 202, Feb. 1983, p. 467-481. Research supported by the Science and Engin
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
65
Cosmic Plasma, High Energy Interactions, Particle Collisions, Relativistic Plasmas, Relaxation Time, Thermal Plasmas, Bremsstrahlung, Cross Sections, Energy Transfer, Maxwell-Boltzmann Density Function
Scientific paper
An exact expression is developed for the energy exchange rate in collisions of Maxwellian distributions of relativistic particles in terms of an integral over the scattering cross section. Evaluations are performed for electron-proton, electron-electron, and proton-proton relaxations. Proton relaxation is found to transfer energy to the electrons in Coulomb collisions and through pion production. The cross-sections of particle production and bremmstrahlung are determined to be increasing functions of energy. This implies that in a Maxwellian distribution particles in the high-energy tail cool the fastest. A too-long duration of the thermalization process does not allow the tail to be repopulated, and the Maxwellian distribution is lost while the cooling time scale increases.
No associations
LandOfFree
Two-body relaxation in relativistic thermal plasmas does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Two-body relaxation in relativistic thermal plasmas, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Two-body relaxation in relativistic thermal plasmas will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1307178