NONLOCAL ELECTRON-TRANSPORT IN LASER-HEATED PLASMAS

Nonlocal theory of an electron transport in laser-produced plasmas wit h the large ion charge and arbitrary ratio of the characteristic spati al scale length to the electron mean free path has been developed for small potential perturbations. Closure relations have been derived fro m the solution to the electron Fokker-Planck equation which includes i nverse bremsstrahlung heating and ponderomotive effects. All electron transport coefficients and their dependence on the laser intensity hav e been found. An expression for the electron heat flux includes laser field and plasma flow contributions. Identification of these different sources is necessary for the unique definition of the thermal transpo rt coefficient which is independent of the particular application. A c omplete derivation of the potential part of the ponderomotive force in the presence of inverse bremsstrahlung heating has been presented. (C ) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S1070-664X(98)03607-6].