Abstract
The behaviour of a collisional plasma that is optically thin to cyclotron radiation is considered, and the distribution functions accessible to it on the various time scales in the system are calculated. Particular attention is paid to the limit in which the collision time exceeds the radiation emission time, making the electron distribution function strongly anisotropic. Unusually for plasma physics, the collision operator can nevertheless be calculated analytically although the plasma is far from Maxwellian. The rate of radiation emission is calculated and found to be governed by the collision frequency multiplied by a factor that only depends logarithmically on plasma parameters.
Highlights
In the presence of a strong magnetic field, charged particles execute helical gyromotion around the magnetic field lines
The emission of cyclotron radiation by particles in a plasma gives rise to a reaction force which must be included in the kinetic equation
We have found the solution to (4.5a–c) in two different limits based on the plasma parameters, elucidating the plasma distribution function in the collisional regime (3.19)
Summary
In the presence of a strong magnetic field, charged particles execute helical gyromotion around the magnetic field lines. Certain plasma systems are optically thin to cyclotron emission and this radiated energy can be lost to the surroundings. These optically thin plasmas are the focus of this current work. It is the purpose of the present paper to show how these emissions lead to the manifestation of anisotropy in the plasma distribution function, and how the distribution evolves in these regimes.
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