Linear damping of magneto-acoustic waves in two-fluid partially ionized plasmas

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. Verfasser: Martínez-Gómez, David
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866911214494285824
author Martínez-Gómez, David
author_facet Martínez-Gómez, David
contents Magneto-acoustic waves in partially ionized plasmas are damped due to elastic collisions between charged and neutral particles. Here, we use a linearized two-fluid model to describe the influence of this collisional interaction on the properties of small-amplitude waves propagating in a uniform and static background. Mainly focusing on the case of waves generated by a periodic driver, we perform a detailed study of the dependence of the wavenumbers and damping rates on the ionization degree of the plasma, the strength of the collisional coupling, and the angle of propagation. We describe how the different wave modes (fast, slow, acoustic) are related to the individual properties of each fluid in a wide range of physical conditions. In addition, we derive analytical approximations for the damping rates due to charge-neutral collisions in the limits of weak and strong coupling and check their range of validity in comparison with the exact numerical results. These approximations can be generally applied to a large variety of astrophysical and laboratory partially ionized plasmas, but here we also discuss the particular application to plasmas only composed of hydrogen.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_14575
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Linear damping of magneto-acoustic waves in two-fluid partially ionized plasmas
Martínez-Gómez, David
Plasma Physics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Magneto-acoustic waves in partially ionized plasmas are damped due to elastic collisions between charged and neutral particles. Here, we use a linearized two-fluid model to describe the influence of this collisional interaction on the properties of small-amplitude waves propagating in a uniform and static background. Mainly focusing on the case of waves generated by a periodic driver, we perform a detailed study of the dependence of the wavenumbers and damping rates on the ionization degree of the plasma, the strength of the collisional coupling, and the angle of propagation. We describe how the different wave modes (fast, slow, acoustic) are related to the individual properties of each fluid in a wide range of physical conditions. In addition, we derive analytical approximations for the damping rates due to charge-neutral collisions in the limits of weak and strong coupling and check their range of validity in comparison with the exact numerical results. These approximations can be generally applied to a large variety of astrophysical and laboratory partially ionized plasmas, but here we also discuss the particular application to plasmas only composed of hydrogen.
title Linear damping of magneto-acoustic waves in two-fluid partially ionized plasmas
topic Plasma Physics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.14575