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The plasma approximation: The plasma approximation applies when the plasma parameter Λ, [26] representing the number of charge carriers within the Debye sphere is much higher than unity. [ 19 ] [ 20 ] It can be readily shown that this criterion is equivalent to smallness of the ratio of the plasma electrostatic and thermal energy densities.
The plasma collisionality is defined as [4] [5] =, where denotes the electron-ion collision frequency, is the major radius of the plasma, is the inverse aspect-ratio, and is the safety factor. The plasma parameters m i {\displaystyle m_{\mathrm {i} }} and T i {\displaystyle T_{\mathrm {i} }} denote, respectively, the mass and temperature of the ...
Except at extreme temperatures and pressures, atoms form the three classical states of matter: solid, liquid and gas. Complex molecules can also form various mesophases such as liquid crystals, which are intermediate between the liquid and solid phases. At high temperatures or strong electromagnetic fields, atoms become ionized, forming plasma.
Radiation is often categorized as either ionizing or non-ionizing depending on the energy of the radiated particles. Ionizing radiation carries more than 10 electron volts (eV), which is enough to ionize atoms and molecules and break chemical bonds. This is an important distinction due to the large difference in harmfulness to living organisms.
Matter in the plasma state has variable volume and shape, and contains neutral atoms as well as a significant number of ions and electrons, both of which can move around freely. The term phase is sometimes used as a synonym for state of matter, but it is possible for a single compound to form different phases that are in the same state of matter.
Interaction between these boundary regions would generate radiation, and this would form the plasma. Alfvén introduced the term ambiplasma for a plasma made up of matter and antimatter and the double layers are thus formed of ambiplasma. According to Alfvén, such an ambiplasma would be relatively long-lived as the component particles and ...
The radiation pressure on the atom slows movement in a particular direction until the Doppler effect moves out of the frequency range of the element, causing an overall cooling effect. [34] An other active research area of laser–matter interaction is the radiation pressure acceleration of ions or protons from thin–foil targets. [35]
With current technology, this volume is quite small and the plasma is generated as a flat plane inside a cylindrical space. Plasma is any gas whose atoms or molecules have been ionized, and is a separate phase of matter. This is most commonly achieved by heating the gas to extremely high temperatures, although other methods exist.