Estimation of the Maximum Temperature in a Radially Constricted Gas Discharge Between Electrodes

Abstract

A steady-state deuterium discharge between two electrodes is considered and the free boundary surface of the plasma is assumed thermally insulated when pinched away from the walls of the discharge tube. Cooling is therefore by heat conduction to the electrodes, compared to which bremsstrahlung loss is shown to be negligible if the discharge is not too long. The main question examined is how much the maximum temperature T m can be raised by constricting the cross section of the discharge near the centre.