On the possibility of birefringence in a moving plasma

Abstract

In a recent paper Lusignan [1963] has carried out a calculation which indicates that the velocity of propagation of electromagnetic radiation in a moving plasma should depend on the direction of polarization. When the propagation is perpendicular to the plasma velocity V, Lusignan finds a phase velocity for electric field polarization perpendicular to V slightly greater than that for polarization parallel to V. As the problem can be viewed in the rest frame of the plasma, where there is no preferred direction of polarization, it is clear that Lusignan's result is not tenable. The purpose of this short note is to re-examine Lusignan's treatment and to reconcile it with the requirement of no birefringence imposed by special relativity.