Modern Understanding of the Properties of a DC-Excited Gas Discharge Plasma as a Single Whole in Uniform Weak Longitudinal Magnetic Fields

Changes in the properties of a DC-excited gas discharge plasma in uniform weak longitudinal magnetic fields are analyzed. The state and behavior of this system in a weak magnetic field can be investigated using a reaction–diffusion equation that describes the ionization–recombination equilibrium in it, alongside modern concepts of ambipolar diffusion. It is shown that the presence of an external magnetic field decreases the transverse diffusion coefficient, disrupts the coherence of the emerging plasma states in the given systems, and induces noise or turbulence in diffusion and stratified regions, including contracted ones, while increasing the period of striations. Complete disruption of the spatiotemporal structure of the striation occurs when the magnetic field strength exceeds the critical value. A similar effect is also achieved by increasing the working gas pressure. The presented material allows for the generalization of all the aforementioned features of the behavior of the ionized gas as various manifestations of an integral plasma–field system.