Signatures of quantized magnetic field on the nonlinear Landau damping of transverse electromagnetic waves

Abstract

A quantum kinetic approach alongwith the Landau theory of quantization (LQ) is utilized to study the impact of the magnetic field on the nonlinear Landau damping (NLD) of transverse electromagnetic (EM) waves in a degenerate electron-ion plasma. The gyratory motion of fermions around the magnetic field (H) lines gets quantized into the Landau levels and consequently the associated Fermi–Dirac distribution function becomes modified with the fermion cyclotron frequency under the limit l ℏ ω ce − ε Fe ≫ k B T e , where l is the orbital quantum number with all other standard notations. In this context, the density oscillations due to electrons are calculated in the presence of the LQ parameter η( = ℏ ω ce /ε Fe < 1) and ion density perturbations are computed using the framework of Maxwell distribution. A new type of kinetic nonlinear Shrödinger equation is derived in the presence of η, which involves nonlocal nonlinear term responsible for the NLD of EM waves. Furthermore, longitudinal wave modes are investigated to account for quantization parameter η. The LQ is also shown to absorb oscillation spectra of the linear ion-acoustic mode. The present findings might be helpful to understand the impact of the H field on the nonlinear interaction of EM waves with astrophysical plasmas, e.g., in the atmosphere of neutron star the presence of quantized magnetic field is more common.