Distribution of the Time-Dependent Microfield in a Plasma
Larry J. Roszman, Charles F. Hooper · Physical Review A · 1973
The theory of the distribution of the time average of the time-dependent microfield in a quantum plasma taken over a finite time interval is introduced and developed. The short- and long-time limits are derived. The Wigner phase-space representation is employed to derive the correct distribution for a classical plasma and to establish a formalism which can be used for low-order quantum corrections. Numerical results are presented for a classical gas of charged noninteracting particles. It is found that for time-averaging intervals, which are larger than the time it takes a particle traveling with the average thermal velocity to cross the ion-sphere radius, the distribution deviates from the corresponding Holtsmark distribution for the quasistatic model.