Electron Transport under the Influence of Two Kinds of Friction in an Electron-Deuteron Plasma

Abstract

We discuss an electron transport in an ideal plasma which consists of electrons and deuterons. With respect to a frictional force to suppress an unlimited increase of a drift velocity, the Boltzmann equation with the Fokker-Planck collision term takes into consideration only a dynamical frictional force coming from the many-body collisions through the Coulomb force. However, we here bring forward a problem that there may be another frictional force besides the dynamical frictional force. Another frictional force was found in the weakly ionized plasma and appears only in the case where free paths (nearly straight lines in no external force field) can be defined. Then, we have inquired into the existence of physical quantities like free paths (or free times) in the field of the scattering through the Coulomb force and the existence of an effective radius of the Coulomb force of a deuteron.