Virial equation for the two‐dimensional pure electron plasma

Abstract

The virial for a system of very long, parallel, charged rods is particularly simple. The virial equation (‘‘theorem’’) relates that quantity to the wall virial and to random and organized internal energies of the system. In the case of a long cylinder of pure‐electron plasma, the virial equation contains, as a special case, an equation derived recently by Davidson and Lund on the basis of mean‐field theory. The virial equation may be used to control the computation of thermodynamic functions for the plasma. It also gives insight into the more complicated motions which occur when the central axis of the column moves in a closed orbit.