Convergence of Chapman-Enskog calculation of transport coefficients of magnetized argon plasma

Abstract

Convergence properties of the Chapman-Enskog method in the presence of a magnetic field for the calculation of the transport properties of nonequilibrium partially ionized argon have been studied emphasizing the role of the different collision integrals. In particular, the Ramsauer minimum of electron-argon cross sections affects the convergence of the Chapman-Enskog method at low temperature, while Coulomb collisions affect the results at higher temperatures. The presence of an applied magnetic field mitigates the slow convergence for the components affected by the field.