Collision integrals for charged-charged interaction in two-temperature non-equilibrium plasma

Abstract

Choice of an appropriate form of shielding distance in the estimation of collision integrals under screened coulomb potential for two-temperature non-equilibrium plasma is addressed. Simple expressions for collision integrals for charged-charged interactions are derived. It is shown that while some of the formalisms used earlier completely ignore the presence of ions, the others incorporating it may result in negative collision integrals for the interactions involving particles at higher charged states. The parametric regimes of concern and impact of different formalisms on the computed transport properties are investigated with specific reference to nitrogen plasma. A revised definition of the shielding distance is proposed, which incorporates both electrons and ions, avoids the problem of negative collision integrals in all practical regimes of interest and results in calculated property values in close agreement with experimentally observed results.