title: Rarefaction acceleration and kinetic effects in thin-foil expansion into a vacuum.
abstract: The collisionless expansion into a vacuum of a thin plasma foil adiabatically cooling down is studied with a particular emphasis on the evolution of the electron distribution function. It is shown that during the expansion the bulk of the distribution function evolves towards a top-hat distribution. As a result, while the electrons globally lose energy in favor of the ions, the rarefaction wave accelerates until it reaches the center of the foil. The electron temperature becomes strongly inhomogeneous, with a maximum in the center of the foil, a strong dip in the outer part of the foil, and a constancy of the initial temperature in the far corona.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Physique Théorique, Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS, 91128 Palaiseau, France. patrick.mora@cpht.polytechnique.fr
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mora
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Grismayer