Ion collection by probes in strong magnetic fields with plasma flow

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Abstract
Fluid-theory calculations are presented of ion collection by electric probes in strongly magnetized plasmas with parallel flow. In the first calculations the problem is treated in a one-dimensional approximation but the cross-field transport of momentum is included in such a way as to model different ratios of viscosity to diffusivity. The results show that the flow deduced from probe measurements is not particularly sensitive to the assumed viscosity, provided it is finite. However, results with zero viscosity are qualitatively different from those with nonzero viscous momentum transport. The second set of calculations is two dimensional but only for fixed (unity) ratio of viscosity to diffusivity. The results are in remarkably good agreement with the corresponding one-dimensional model.