Collisional sheath solutions of a bi-species Vlasov-Poisson-Boltzmann boundary value problem

Abstract

The mathematical description of the interaction between a collisional plasma and an absorbing surface is a challenging issue. In this paper, we propose to model this interaction by considering a bi-species Vlasov-Poisson-Boltzmann boundary value problem with boundary conditions that are consistent with the physics. In particular, we show that the wall potential can be uniquely determined from the ambipolarity of the particles flows as the unique solution of a non linear equation. We also prove that it is an increasing function of the electrons re-emission coefficient at the wall. Based on the Schauder fixed point theorem, our analysis establishes the existence of a solution provided, on the one hand that the incoming ions density satisfies a moment condition that generalizes the Historical Bohm criterion, and on the other hand that the collision frequency does not exceed a critical value whose definition is subordinated to the strict validity of our generalized Bohm criterion.