Measurements of Viscosity in Pure-Electron Plasmas

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Abstract
Measurements of the viscosity in quiescent magnetized pure-electron plasmas are up to 10(8) times larger than predicted by classical collisional theory. This strong viscosity is due to long-range " E x B drift collisions" between electrons separated by up to a Debye length. Recent theories of long-range collisions show order-of-magnitude agreement with the measurements, but do not give the observed dependence on the plasma column length. A simple empirical scaling law fits the length and magnetic field dependence surprisingly well.