Dependence of heat pulse propagation on transport mechanisms: Consequences of nonconstant transport coefficients

Abstract

The transport coefficients for particles and heat will certainly depend upon plasma parameters. Besides making the equilibrium equations nonlinear, this introduces a multitude of new terms in the set of linearized equations, which can be used to describe the effects of perturbations to the system. A general set of such equations is obtained that includes most physical dependences of the transport coefficients. If transport is driven by gradients in density or temperature, as would be expected from most turbulence theories, significant quantitative effects result. Perturbations no longer evolve at the equilibrium transport rates, and the density and temperature perturbations can be strongly coupled. Results are presented for several specific cases.