Ohmic superheating in the dense plasma of a capillary discharge

An experimental investigation is made of the properties of a capillary discharge with wall erosions. It is shown that the one-temperature model with absolute blackbody radiation used previously is completely unsuitable for a description of the physical processes occurring in long capillaries. An approximate two-temperature model is suggested to describe the experimental results. The reasons for the occurrence of superheating, the conditions under which the phenomenon appears, and factors limiting its expansion are pointed out. It is suggested that some features observed experimentally in the plasma may be due to phase transitions.