Skin effect in a corrugated magnetic field

The article is a theoretical study of ohmic resistance and the skin effect in a plasma confined by an axially symmetric magnetic field. Simultaneous solution of the drift kinetic equation and the quasi-steady-state Maxwell equations shows that, when the electron free-path lengths exceed the scale of the magnetic-field inhomogeneity, strong corrugation leads to a considerable rise in ohmic resistance and skin-layer thickness. An analytical expression is found for the electrical conductivity of the plasma and the thickness of the skin layer which takes account of both electron-ion and electron-electron collisions. The spatial distribution of current density has been studied over a wide frequency range. The results obtained here are of interest for experiments on containment and heating of plasma in traps with corrugated fields.