Magnetic field effects in the heat flow of charged fluids

Abstract

Heat conduction in ionized plasmas in the presence of magnetic fields is today a fashionable problem. The kinetic theory of plasmas, in the context of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, predicts a Hall-effect-like heat flow due to the presence of a magnetic field in ionized gases. This cross effect, the Righi-Leduc effect together with a heat flow perpendicular to the magnetic field are shown to yield significant contributions, under certain conditions to the ordinary Fourier component of the heat flow. The thermal conductivities associated with these effects change with the strength of the magnetic field for a given temperature and density and are shown to be significant compared with the parallel conductivity for a whole range of values of \vec{B}.