X-Ray Emission from the Linear Plasma of a Spherical Pinch: The Electron Distribution Function in a Strong Electric Field

The plasma generated in a spherical pinch device consists of a linear discharge along the diameter of a spherical vessel and of an implosion that compresses the linear plasma. Because the linear discharge by itself is found to emit pulses of soft X rays, this phenomenon is investigated by considering a spatially uniform plasma subjected to an electric field. With an appropriate change of variables, a one-dimensional time-independent Boltzmann Fokker-Planck equation is transformed into a confluent hypergeometric equation. The electron distribution function is then calculated in closed form together with the density current to obtain the X-ray spectra from such plasmas.