Ion activity in quasi-neutral current sheets and discharge plasma in crossed electric and magnetic fields

Abstract

As part of a brief review, a classification is made and information is provided about four experimentally discovered plasma effects, where unexpected behavior of the ionic component appeared and for which there is no unambiguous interpretation. 1. Ions with the highest energies for a quasi-neutral current sheet were recorded at the O-point (island) with the direction of their movement opposite to the electric field at the X-point. 2. In a self-sustaining discharge in crossed electric and magnetic fields (E×B discharge), a large number of ions (not the tails of the distribution function) with energies significantly exceeding the energies equivalent to the discharge voltage are generated. This occurs in a certain range of pressures of the plasma-forming gas and magnetic fields. 3. The discovered region of effective ionization — the “anode layer”, with increasing pressure, moves abruptly from one plasma region to another, which is accompanied by a jump in the ion density up to 16 times. An increase in the magnetic field induction causes, on the contrary, the “anode layer” to jump in the opposite direction with the ion density decreasing 3–4 times. 4. Ion distribution functions in the E×B discharge contain isomagnetic density jumps with a relative amplitude from ~30 to 80 % of the total current at the released energy. Taking into account the “anomalous” behavior of ions in the plasma of quasi-neutral current sheets and discharges in crossed electric and magnetic fields will provide further insight into the processes in space plasma, the physics of coronal heating, and the formation of the solar wind.