Properties of an ionized gas of low density in a magnetic field. III

Abstract

Equations are derived which describe the hydrodynamic properties of an ionized gas in a strong magnetic field and in states close to an initial stationary state. The development is based on the Boltzmann equation in which the effects of collisions between the constituents of the gas are ignored. The theory is, therefore, applicable only for following the evolution of the gas for durations which are short compared to the thermalization time. The method of solution followed is essentially one of expansion in inverse powers of the strength of the impressed magnetic field; and in the first approximation the Boltzmann equation is reducible to a one-dimensional inhomogeneous wave equation which describes the motions of the particles along the magnetic field lines.