One‐dimensional Vlasov–Maxwell equilibria

The purpose of this paper is to show that the Vlasov equilibrium of a plasma of charged particles in an electromagnetic field is closely related to a fluid equilibrium, where only a few moments of the velocity distribution of the plasma are considered. In this fluid equilibrium the electric field should be calculated from Ohm’s law, rather than the Poisson equation. In practice, only one‐dimensional equilibria are treated, because the symmetry makes this case tractable. The emphasis here is on gaining a better understanding of the subject, but an alternate way of doing the calculations is suggested. It is shown that particle distributions can be found that are consistent with any reasonable electromagnetic field profile.