Considerations of A Two-Fluid Heliospheric Plasma Dynamics Under Dominant Electron Pressure

Abstract

Hans J. Fahr

Electrons in plasma physics mostly are the underestimated species, since usually they only have to guarantee electric quasineutrality, but don’t count in terms of mass-, momentum-, and energy flows. This is different in space plasmas like the heliospheric plasma, especially the plasma downstream of the solar wind termination shock. Here it has become evident more recently that electrons dominate the plasma pressure and, connected with that, the plasma energy flow. Under these conditions a two-fluid plasma theory is needed to adequately describe fields and flows. We first here develop a pure two-fluid thermodynamics of such two-fluid plasmas and then study the actual situation in case of the heliospheric plasma that the electron pressure is dominating over the proton pressure. Under such auspices the electron pressure determines the mass- and momentum flows of the plasma and in fact decreases with the decrease of bulk velocity of the flow

PDF