RESPONSE OF PLASMA ELECTRONS TO A SPATIALLY EMBEDDED ELECTRIC-FIELD IMPULSE

An efficient method for solving the one-dimensional inhomogeneous Boltzmann equation has been developed. This method is used to investigate in a helium plasma the response of the electron velocity distribution function (EVDF) and of relevant macroscopic quantities to the impact of a spatially embedded disturbance in the electric field. Both elastic and conservative inelastic collisions of electrons with gas atoms are taken into account. The EVDF and macroscopic quantities show unexpectedly large spatial relaxation lengths in electron acceleration direction and large deviations from those obtained in the local field approximation.