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Bohm diffusion is a rapid loss of plasma across magnetic field lines caused by microinstabilities. Theory formulated by the physicist David Bohm. From Chen's book: "Semiempirical formula for the diffusion coefficient given by Bohm in 1946 (noted by Bohm, E. H. S. Burhop, and Harrie Massey, who were developing a magnetic arc for use in uranium isotope separation)." Bohm diffusion was proposed (not derived from first principles) to scale as 1/B rather than the 1/B² scaling predicted by classical diffusion. A 1/B scaling results from assuming that particles diffuse across field lines at an optimum rate (effective collision frequency=cyclotron frequency). The 1/B scaling is observed (approximately) in most reactors.
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