Analytic solutions to the Vlasov equations for expanding plasmas

Phys Rev Lett. 2003 May 9;90(18):185004. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.185004. Epub 2003 May 8.

Abstract

The renormalization-group approach is applied to derive an exact solution to the self-consistent Vlasov kinetic equations for plasma particles in the quasineutral approximation. The solutions obtained describe three-dimensional adiabatic expansion of a plasma bunch with arbitrary initial velocity distributions of the electrons and ions. The solution found is illustrated by the examples on ion acceleration in a plasma with hot electrons and in a plasma with light impurity ions.