Abstract:
The mechanism of reverse motion of a vacuum arc cathode spot in an external magnetic field is explained based on a description the spot and its surroundings as a localized set of slow magnetosonic waves. Reverse motion of this plasma perturbation results from the anomalous dispersion property of slow magnetosonic waves. The transverse displacement component of the cathode spot is oriented in the direction of transverse motion of the total energy flux. The proposed mechanism can be one of the competing mechanisms of reverse motion and can be used to construct new models for the reverse motion of cathode spots.
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