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Definition: |
The term nonneutral plasmas refers to plasmas which contain only a single sign of charged particles, such as pure electron plasmas, pure ion plasmas, or electron/anti-proton plasmas. These completely unneutralized plasmas can be contained in simple magnetic traps for arbitrarily long times, at temperatures ranging from milli-Kelvin to kilo-electron-Volts. Nonneutral plasmas are limited to relatively low particle densities, because the unneutralized space charge gives rise to strong electric fields which cause the plasma to rotate rapidly about the magnetic field. Nevertheless, confined global thermal equilibrium states exist, characterized by near-uniform particle density out to a finite radius, uniform temperature, and uniform
rotation. Because of their simplicity, nonneutral plasmas are utilized in a broad range of basic plasma physics, atomic physics, and anti-matter experiments. |
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