Abstract
Based on a three-component description of partially ionized plasmas (i.e., electrons, ions, and neutral atoms), effects of inelastic collisions between ions (neutrals) and electrons on Alfvén waves (AWs) in a partially ionized plasma are studied. It is shown that for a fixed ionizability (\(\epsilon_i\)) or a fixed inelastic collision parameter (χ, i.e., the ratio of the inelastic to elastic collision frequency), the damping rate of AWs has a peak value round k z v A/ν in ∼1, where k z is the parallel wavenumber of AWs, v A is the Alfvén velocity, and ν in is the elastic collision frequency between ions and neutrals. On the other hand, the damping rate of AWs decreases monotonously with the ionizability \(\epsilon_i\) for a fixed inelastic collision parameter, but has a peak value when the inelastic collision parameter varies for sufficiently small ionizability (\(\epsilon_i<0.1\)). For sufficiently large ionizability (\(\epsilon_i>0.1\)), it is found that the damping rate decreases with the inelastic collision parameter. The results may help us to understand the physics of AWs in partially ionized plasmas.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10973043 and 41074107), National Basic Research Program of China (2006CB806302), and Chinese Academy of Sciences (KJCX2-YW-T04).
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Li, B., Chen, L. & Wu, D. Effects of inelastic collisions on Alfvén waves in partially ionized plasmas. Chin. Sci. Bull. 59, 740–746 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-013-0021-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-013-0021-8