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Updated: Nov 29, 2025

A 100 KW Class Applied-field Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster
Published on: December 22, 2018
Friction force in strongly magnetized plasmas
David J Bernstein1, Trevor Lafleur2, Jérôme Daligault3
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA.
Abstract:
A charged particle moving through a plasma experiences a friction force that commonly acts antiparallel to its velocity. It was recently predicted that in strongly magnetized plasmas, in which the plasma particle gyrofrequency exceeds the plasma frequency, the friction also includes a transverse component that is perpendicular to both the velocity and Lorentz force. Here, this prediction is confirmed using molecular-dynamics simulations, and it is shown that the relative magnitude of the transverse component increases with plasma coupling strength. This result influences single-particle motion and macroscopic transport in strongly magnetized plasmas found in a broad range of applications.
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