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We consider the generation of electric currents in the solar chromospherewhere the ionization level is typically low. We show that ambient electronsbecome magnetized even for weak magnetic fields (30 G); that is, theirgyrofrequency becomes larger than the collision frequency while ion motionscontinue to be dominated by ion-neutral collisions. Under such conditions, ionsare dragged by neutrals, and the magnetic field acts as if it is frozen-in tothe dynamics of the neutral gas. However, magnetized electrons drift under theaction of the electric and magnetic fields induced in the reference frame ofions moving with the neutral gas. We find that this relative motion ofelectrons and ions results in the generation of quite intense electriccurrents. The dissipation of these currents leads to resistive electron heatingand efficient gas ionization. Ionization by electron-neutral impact does notalter the dynamics of the heavy particles; thus, the gas turbulent motionscontinue even when the plasma becomes fully ionized, and resistive dissipationcontinues to heat electrons and ions. This heating process is so efficient thatit can result in typical temperature increases with altitude as large as0.1-0.3 eV/km. We conclude that this process can play a major role in theheating of the chromosphere and corona

Generation of electric currents in the chromosphere via neutral-ion drag