Abstract
A fully consistent approach requires a study of Z-pinch dynamics. We emphasize the dynamics of Z-pinch plasmas or imploding plasmas, since dynamics certainly substantially affects Z-pinch parameters. While the pulsed-power generator characteristics strongly affect pinch parameters, depending on the goal of applications (fusion, neutron production, x-ray sources, etc.), the canonical diode consists of a cylindrical rod as the cathode, placed a certain distance (approximately the radius of the cathode) from the anode. Typically in dense pinches, the electric current is collisionally dominated, while current conduction in a vacuum spark, for example, may be dominated by plasma microinstabilities. Modern experimental facilities routinely produce Z-pinch plasmas for which the ideal MHD model may be inadequate at certain conditions. For a dense Z pinch, the current-driven plasma kinetic instabilities do not appear, if the average electron drift velocity \( \bar v\) v De is less than the ion thermal velocityv thi .Then, we obtain the condition given by (2.11). It is convenient to express this condition in terms of the pinch currentItaking into accountI = Zev De N.The limiting line number density of a dense pinch is
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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Liberman, M.A., De Groot, J.S., Toor, A., Spielman, R.B. (1999). Dynamics of Z-Pinch Plasmas. In: Physics of High-Density Z-Pinch Plasmas. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1424-3_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1424-3_3
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7138-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-1424-3
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