Quasi-neutral fluid models for current-carrying plasmas

In this paper, we propose three formulations of a model describing a quasi-neutral plasma with non-vanishing current. These formulations are obtained by exploring the quasi-neutral limit of a two-fluid isentropic Euler system coupled with the Poisson equation. In order to study and compare the numerical efficiency of each formulation, two test-problems are implemented in one dimension. The first one is a periodic perturbation of a uniform stationary plasma. The second one is a case of plasma expansion in vacuum between two electrodes. (c) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.