Excess pressure and electric fields in nonideal plasma hydrodynamics

Area of Science:

• Plasma physics
• Statistical mechanics
• Thermodynamics

Background:

• Nonideal plasmas exhibit complex correlations affecting thermodynamics and collisions.
• Current hydrodynamic models often neglect electrodynamics or inconsistently couple transport with equations of state, leading to force double counting.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate inhomogeneous, nonideal plasmas with electric fields using statistical mechanical hydrodynamic theory.
• To clarify the relationship between electric fields, excess pressure, and interparticle forces in these systems.

Main Methods:

• Application of the Irving and Kirkwood statistical mechanical hydrodynamic theory.
• Analysis of inhomogeneous, nonideal plasmas including electric fields.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated that electric fields and excess pressure terms are inseparable in nonideal plasmas.
• Identified that both quantities originate from the same interparticle Coulomb forces.
• Revealed new nonlocality terms in strongly inhomogeneous plasma conditions.

Conclusions:

• The traditional separation of electric field and excess pressure terms is not valid for nonideal plasmas.
• Interparticle Coulomb forces are the unified source of these thermodynamic and electrodynamic effects.
• Strong plasma inhomogeneities introduce nonlocal effects not captured by standard models.