Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 25, 2026

An Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Setup to Investigate the Reactive Species Formation
Published on: November 3, 2016
Partially ionized hydrogen plasma in strong magnetic fields
A Y Potekhin1, G Chabrier, Y A Shibanov
1Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute, 194021 St. Petersburg, Russia. palex@astro.ioffe.rssi.ru
Abstract:
We study the thermodynamic properties of a partially ionized hydrogen plasma in strong magnetic fields, B approximately 10(12)-10(13) G, typical of neutron stars. The properties of the plasma depend significantly on the quantum-mechanical sizes and binding energies of the atoms, which are strongly modified by thermal motion across the field. We use new fitting formulas for the atomic binding energies and sizes, based on accurate numerical calculations and valid for any state of motion of the atom. In particular, we take into account decentered atomic states, neglected in previous studies of thermodynamics of magnetized plasmas. We also employ analytic fits for the thermodynamic functions of nonideal fully ionized electron-ion Coulomb plasmas. This enables us to construct an analytic model of the free energy. An ionization equilibrium equation is derived, taking into account the strong magnetic field effects and the nonideality effects. This equation is solved by an iteration technique. Ionization degrees, occupancies, and the equation of state are calculated.
Related Concept Videos
Nuclear Fusion
A helium nucleus has a mass that is 0.7% less than that of four hydrogen nuclei; this lost mass is converted into energy during the fusion. This reaction produces about...
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Magnetic Moment
π Electron Effects on Chemical Shift: Overview
Paramagnetism
Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry (ICP–MS): Overview
Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Principle
The ions and electrons produced interact with the fluctuating magnetic field created by a water-cooled...

