A 14-moment maximum-entropy description of electrons in crossed electric and magnetic fields

Abstract

A 14-moment maximum-entropy system of equations is applied to the description of non-equilibrium electrons in crossed electric and magnetic fields and in the presence of low collisionality, characteristic of lowtemperature plasma devices. The flexibility of this formulation is analyzed through comparison with analytical results for steady-state non-equilibrium velocity distribution functions and against particle-based solutions of the time-dependent kinetic equation. Electric and magnetic source terms are derived for the 14-moment equations, starting from kinetic theory. A simplified BGK-like collision term is formulated to describe the collision of electrons with background neutrals, accounting for the large mass disparity and for energy exchange. An approximated expression is proposed for the collision frequency, to include the effect of the electrons drift velocity, showing good accuracy in the considered conditions. The capabilities of the proposed 14-moment closure to capture accurately non-equilibrium behaviour of electrons for space homogeneous problems under conditions representative of those found in Hall thrusters is demonstrated.