No abstract

New results concerning the mathematical properties of the Fokker–Planck equation describing the electron distribution function are presented. The validity of the approximations obtained by using a finite number of Legendre polynomials to describe the electron distribution function is discussed. It is shown that, due to the Landau form of the electron-ion collision operator, it is sufficient to use two or three Legendre polynomials in problems of interest. The theory is applied to the classical albedo problem as a test, and is also applied to determine the distribution and the heat flux in a heat front typical of laser plasma experiments. It is shown that the heat flux can be expressed as a sort of convolution of the Spitzer–Härm heat flux by a delocalization function. The convolution formula leads in a physically relevant way to the saturation and the delocalization of the heat flux.