Enhanced electron–ion energy exchange due to a super-Gaussian electron velocity distribution function

An analytical description of electron-ion energy exchange in plasmas in which the electron velocity distribution is super-Gaussian due to heating by a strong laser field is presented. The ion to electron temperature ratio at which collisional electron-ion energy exchange cancels increases from 1 in a Maxwellian plasma to 1.98 in a strongly super-Gaussian plasma. Numerical examples illustrating this dependence in nonequilibrium laser heated plasmas are presented. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.