Creation of Magnetic Fields by Electrostatic and Thermal Fluctuations

Abstract

It is pointed out that the electrostatic and thermal fluctuations are the main source of magnetic fields in unmagnetized inhomogeneous plasmas. The unmagnetized inhomogeneous plasmas can support a low frequency electromagnetic ion wave as a normal mode like Alfven wave of magnetized plasmas. But this is a coupled mode produced by the mixing of longitudinal and transverse components of perturbed electric field due to density inhomogeneity. The ion acoustic wave does not remain electrostatic in non‐uniform plasmas. On the other hand, a low frequency electrostatic wave can also exist in the pure electron plasmas and it couples with ion acoustic wave when ions are dynamic. These waves can become unstable when density and temperature gradients are parallel to each other as can be the case of laser plasmas and is the common situation in stellar cores. The main instability condition for the electrostatic and electromagnetic modes is the same 23κn<κT (where κn and κT are inverse of the scale lengths of gradients of density and electron temperature, respectively). This indicates that the electrostatic and magnetic field fluctuations are strongly coupled in unmagnetized nonuniform plasmas.