Thermodynamics of driven collisionless systems

Abstract

A statistical theory is presented which allows to calculate the stationary state achieved by a driven system after a process of collisionless relaxation. The theory is applied to study an electron beam driven by an external electric field. The Vlasov equation with appropriate boundary conditions is solved analytically and compared with the molecular dynamics simulation. A perfect agreement is found between the theory and the simulations. The full current-voltage phase diagram is constructed.