Entropy Generation in Ultracold Neutral Plasmas

Ultracold neutral plasmas 1 (UNPs) are strongly coupled, non- equilibrium systems created by photoionizing laser cooled atoms in a vacuum. As a result, experimental platforms are developed to elucidate the properties of UNPs such as their spatial expansion and temperature relaxation 2 . Data from these experiments are used to validate theories and computational models that aim to model UNPs. One such computational model derived from a multi-species BGK kinetic theory 3 .