THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF A FULLY IONIZED GAS

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Abstract
The present work deals with the formulation of the theory of the hydro-dynamical stage in the approach of a plasma towards equilibrium, on the basis of the kinetic equation obtained by Guernsey and by Rosenberg and Wu along the line of the Bogoliubov theory for neutral gases. The equations of continuity, momentum transport, and energy transport are given. The solution of the kinetic equation has been obtained in the hydrodynamical stage for a plasma deviating only slightly from equilibrium. This solution has been used to calculate the thermal conductivity of the plasma. The result agrees very well with an earlier calculation of Spitzer and Härm based on the use of a Fokker–Planck kinetic equation with a Debye–Hückel screened potential to avoid the divergence for distant collisions.

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