Particle and energy transport in the process of plasma expansion into a vacuum

Using the self-similar solution in the form of the rarefaction wave for the case of non-zero ion temperature, particle and energy transport in the process of plasma expansion into a vacuum is studied. The approach permits the energy distribution of the ions passed through a given plane, their total number and total and averaged energies to be calculated without resort to simulation or other complicated computations. The obtained solutions are found to be in good agreement with the computer simulation data.