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Re: magnetic lines like these?



Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 13:17:23 -0400
From: Chuck Britton <britton@odie.ncssm.edu>
Subject: Re: magnetic lines like these

And in the case of the macroscopically neutral solar wind (+ and -
particles ejected from the Sun with the same mean speed) the net field of
escaping particle must be zero.


I'm gonna GUESS that the + and - particles in the wind have nearly equal
KE distributions, rather than nearly equal speed distributions. This would
have electrons moving 'a bit' faster than protons, if that makes a
difference to your thoughts.
Chuck Britton

Oh yes, this is important, I think. If protons and electrons have the
same KE (meaning very different v) then traveling in the same direction
does not mean that the net B is zero. In a neutral plasma electrons
will contribute much more to B than protons.

I was under impression (created by Zeilik's book) that neutral plasma is
pushed out "by pressure". In that case all particles have the same v.
On the other hand, solar wind particles are being pushed through the
chromosphers where T=millions of K (another puzzle involving solar
magnetic field). It is possible that the thermal quazi-equilibrium is
established resulting in identical KE spectra but different spectra
of v. Again, why is this not emphasized for students?
Ludwik Kowalski