Calculation of three-temperature transport coefficients of helium plasma

The study of transport properties in gases and/or in plasmas is of major importance in various fields. Knowledge of transport coefficients such as conductivity, mobility, and diffusion coefficient is necessary for any modeling but the determination of these coefficients is difficult. Due to the limitations of semi-classical approaches, we employed a quantum treatment of the cross sections to determine the transport coefficients. In this project, we calculate the mobility and the self-diffusion transport coefficient of helium ions He+ in its parent gas He at low temperatures, using a more elaborate gas mobility model to solve Boltzmann's integrodifferential equation, namely, the three-temperature (3 T) theory, in which complete quantum momentum transfer cross sections are injected. These transport coefficients are calculated by the Chapman–Enskog method via collision integrals. We started with the determination of quantum cross sections based on the ab initio points of the ion–atom interaction potential calculated by Tomza et al. These quantum cross sections are used in the Fortran code (GC.FOR) of Viehland 1994 to calculate the main transport coefficients that can be used to estimate the characteristics of the helium plasma. Our results are compared with experimental and theoretical data available in the literature.