Electron inertia effect on incompressible plasma flow in a planar channel

Abstract

In this paper, we consider a one-fluid model of electromagnetic hydrodynamics (EMHD) of quasi-neutral plasma, with ion and electron inertia fully taken into account. The EMHD and the MHD models are compared with regard to solving the classical problem of steady flow of incompressible plasma in a planar channel. In the MHD theory, the solution is given by the Hartmann flow, whereas in the EMHD model, the diagram of the longitudinal velocity is shown to be significantly different from the Hartmann profile: in particular, near-wall flows and a counterflow appear, while the flow velocity may significantly deviate from the direction of the antigradient pressure causing plasma to flow (the so-called hydrodynamic ‘Hall effect’). This study shows that the EMHD and the MHD planar channel theories are practically the same for liquid metal plasma and are very different for gas plasma.