The effective field of a test particle moving slower than the electron thermal velocity is calculated. Within a few Debye lengths, the field exhibits the usual exponential shielding. At further distances, the velocity induced r−3 field is seen.
The error incurred through the customary neglect of the velocity dependence of the Coulomb logarithm was evaluated by reexamining the problem of the deceleration of a test particle in a plasma. Numerical results indicate that a neglect of this velocity dependence results in an underestimation of the energy deposited by a test particle in the ion field of a plasma.
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