TRANSFER INTEGRALS FOR FULLY IONIZED-GASES

The general transfer integrals describing the collisional exchange of momentum and energy between the constituents of multicomponent gases a re evaluated for different plasma scenarios characterized by Maxwellia n as well as non-Maxwellian distribution functions of the plasma speci es. Following a brief presentation of the standard approximation frequ ently employed in the literature, a comparison of numerical evaluation s of the transfer integrals for various distribution functions reveals significant differences in the corresponding collisional momentum and energy exchange rates, which are shown to depend mainly on the core s tructure of the distributions. We demonstrate the inadequacy of the st andard approximation and hence the importance of an accurate evaluatio n of the transfer integrals with an application to the electron-proton as well as the helium-proton interaction in the solar wind plasma.