On the kinetic Alfvén waves in nonrelativistic spin quantum plasmas

Abstract

We have studied the effect of electron spin on the kinetic Alfvén waves in the presence of uniform static magnetic field in an electron–ion plasma. We deduce that the usual kinetic Alfvén waves are modified via spin quantum effects of electrons. The dimensionless parameters that determine the relative importance of the electron spin become prominent at higher densities. It is found that the kinetic Alfvén wave frequency decreases due to the electron spin contribution in the kinetic limit while in the inertial limit they are almost unaffected in a hot magnetized plasma. • Spin-modified Vlasov–Maxwell equations have been used to derive the generalized dispersion relation of kinetic Alfvén waves for spin quantum plasmas. • It is found that the spin quantum effects suppress the Alfvén wave frequency in a hot magnetized plasma. • The applicability of the present results to Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) as well as to astrophysical environments has been point out.