Fluid model of the magnetic presheath in a turbulent plasma

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A fluid model of the magnetic presheath in a turbulent boundary plasma is presented. Turbulent transport corrections of the classical three-dimensional fluid transport equations, which can be used to study magnetic presheaths in various geometries, are derived by means of the ensemble averaging procedure from the statistical theory of plasma turbulence. Then, the magnetic presheath in front of an infinite plane surface is analysed in detail. The linearized planar magnetic presheath equations are applied to the plasma-presheath–magnetic-presheath boundary (i.e. the magnetic presheath edge), whereas the original non-linear planar magnetic presheath equations are used for the entire magnetic presheath, allowing for various sets of experimentally relevant free model parameters to be applied. Important new results of this study are, among others, new expressions for the fluid Bohm criterion at the Debye sheath edge and for the ion flux density perpendicular to the wall. These new results, which exhibit corrections due to the turbulent charged particle transport, can qualitatively explain the fact that whenever the angle between the magnetic field and the wall is very small (i.e. several degrees) or zero, electric currents, measured by Langmuir probes in the boundary regions of nuclear fusion devices and in various low-temperature plasmas, are anomalously enhanced in comparison with those expected or predicted by other theoretical models.