Nonrelativistic Plasma Research Articles

High-frequency spectral distribution of the equilibrium radiation energy in a plasma

We establish that the difference of the spectral distribution of the equilibrium radiation energy in matter from the Planck formula in the high-frequency range is determined by the imaginary part of the transverse dielectric permittivity of the matter. Based on this, we show that in a rarified high-temperature fully ionized nonrelativistic plasma, the high-frequency spectral distribution of the equilibrium radiation energy differs essentially from the Planck formula because of the power-law character of the decrease in the frequency, which is due to the presence of matter.

NONRELATIVISTIC PERPENDICULAR SHOCKS MODELING YOUNG SUPERNOVA REMNANTS: NONSTATIONARY DYNAMICS AND PARTICLE ACCELERATION AT FORWARD AND REVERSE SHOCKS

ABSTRACT For parameters that are applicable to the conditions at young supernova remnants, we present results of two-dimensional, three-vector (2D3V) particle-in-cell simulations of a non-relativistic plasma shock with a large-scale perpendicular magnetic field inclined at a 45 ° ?> angle to the simulation plane to approximate three-dimensional (3D) physics. We developed an improved clean setup that uses the collision of two plasma slabs with different densities and velocities, leading to the development of two distinctive shocks and a contact discontinuity. The shock formation is mediated by Weibel-type filamentation instabilities that generate magnetic turbulence. Cyclic reformation is observed in both shocks with similar period, for which we note global variations due to shock rippling and local variations arising from turbulent current filaments. The shock rippling occurs on spatial and temporal scales produced by the gyro-motions of shock-reflected ions. The drift motion of electrons and ions is not a gradient drift, but is commensurate with E × B ?> drift. We observe a stable supra-thermal tail in the ion spectra, but no electron acceleration because the amplitude of the Buneman modes in the shock foot is insufficient for trapping relativistic electrons. We see no evidence of turbulent reconnection. A comparison with other two-dimensional (2D) simulation results suggests that the plasma beta and the ion-to-electron mass ratio are not decisive for efficient electron acceleration, but the pre-acceleration efficacy might be reduced with respect to the 2D results once 3D effects are fully accounted for. Other microphysical factors may also play a part in limiting the amplitude of the Buneman waves or preventing the return of electrons to the foot region.

TURBULENT RECONNECTION IN RELATIVISTIC PLASMAS AND EFFECTS OF COMPRESSIBILITY

We report turbulence effects on magnetic reconnection in relativistic plasmas using 3-dimensional relativistic resistive magnetohydrodynamics simulations. We found reconnection rate became independent of the plasma resistivity due to turbulence effects similarly to non-relativistic cases. We also found compressible turbulence effects modified the turbulent reconnection rate predicted in non-relativistic incompressible plasmas; The reconnection rate saturates and even decays as the injected velocity approaches to the Alfv\'en velocity. Our results indicate the compressibility cannot be neglected when compressible component becomes about half of incompressible mode occurring when the Alfv\'en Mach number reaches about $0.3$. The obtained maximum reconnection rate is around $0.05$ to $0.1$, which will be able to reach around $0.1$ to $0.2$ if injection scales are comparable to the sheet length.

Linear and nonlinear ion-acoustic waves in nonrelativistic quantum plasmas with arbitrary degeneracy.

Linear and nonlinear ion-acoustic waves are studied in a fluid model for nonrelativistic, unmagnetized quantum plasma with electrons with an arbitrary degeneracy degree. The equation of state for electrons follows from a local Fermi-Dirac distribution function and applies equally well both to fully degenerate and classical, nondegenerate limits. Ions are assumed to be cold. Quantum diffraction effects through the Bohm potential are also taken into account. A general coupling parameter valid for dilute and dense plasmas is proposed. The linear dispersion relation of the ion-acoustic waves is obtained and the ion-acoustic speed is discussed for the limiting cases of extremely dense or dilute systems. In the long-wavelength limit, the results agree with quantum kinetic theory. Using the reductive perturbation method, the appropriate Korteweg-de Vries equation for weakly nonlinear solutions is obtained and the corresponding soliton propagation is analyzed. It is found that soliton hump and dip structures are formed depending on the value of the quantum parameter for the degenerate electrons, which affect the phase velocities in the dispersive medium.

Alfven solitary waves in nonrelativistic, relativistic, and ultra-relativistic degenerate quantum plasma

Nonlinear circularly polarized Alfvén waves are studied in magnetized nonrelativistic, relativistic, and ultrarelativistic degenerate Fermi plasmas. Using the quantum hydrodynamic model, Zakharov equations are derived and the Sagdeev potential approach is used to investigate the properties of the electromagnetic solitary structures. It is seen that the amplitude increases with the increase of electron density in the relativistic and ultrarelativistic cases but decreases in the nonrelativistic case. Both right and left handed waves are considered, and it is seen that supersonic, subsonic, and super- and sub-Alfvénic solitary structures are obtained for different polarizations and under different relativistic regimes.

Nonlinear dynamics of cold magnetized non-relativistic plasma in the presence of electron-ion collisions

A numerical study is presented of the nonlinear dynamics of a magnetized, cold, non-relativistic plasma, in the presence of electron-ion collisions. The ions are considered to be immobile while the electrons move with non-relativistic velocities. The primary interest is to study the effects of the collision parameter, external magnetic field strength, and the initial electromagnetic polarization on the evolution of the plasma system.

Standing electromagnetic solitons in degenerate relativistic plasmas

The existence of standing high frequency electromagnetic (EM) solitons in a fully degenerate overdense electron plasma is studied applying relativistic hydrodynamics and Maxwell equations. The stable soliton solutions are found in both relativistic and nonrelativistic degenerate plasmas.

Solitary waves in asymmetric electron–positron–ion plasmas

By solving the coupled equations of the electromagnetic field and electrostatic potential, we investigate solitary waves in an asymmetric electron–positron plasma and/or electron–positron–ion plasmas with delicate features. It is found that the solutions of the coupled equations can capture multipeak structures of solitary waves in the case of cold plasma, which are left out by using the long-wavelength approximation. By considering the effect of ion motion with respect to non-relativistic and ultra-relativistic temperature plasmas, we find that the ions’ mobility can lead to larger-amplitude solitary waves; especially, this becomes more obvious for a high-temperature plasma. The effects of asymmetric temperature between electrons and positrons and the ion fraction on the solitary waves are also studied and presented. It is shown that the amplitudes of solitary waves decrease with positron temperature in asymmetric temperature electron–positron plasmas and decrease also with ion concentration.

Radiative decay of keV-mass sterile neutrinos in a strongly magnetized plasma

The radiative decay of sterile neutrinos with typical masses of 10 keV is investigated in the presence of a strong magnetic field and degenerate plasma. Full account is taken of the strongly modified photon dispersion relation relative to vacuum. The limiting cases of relativistic and non-relativistic plasma are analyzed. The decay rate in a strongly magnetized plasma as a function of the electron number density is compared with the un-magnetized case. We find that a strong magnetic field suppresses the catalyzing influence of the plasma on the decay rate.

Nonlinear dynamics of large amplitude modes in a magnetized plasma

We derive two equations describing the coupling between electromagnetic and electrostatic oscillations in one-dimensional geometry in a magnetized cold and non-relativistic plasma. The nonlinear interaction between the wave modes is studied numerically. The effects of the external magnetic field strength and the initial electromagnetic polarization are of particular interest here. New results can, thus, be identified.

Quantum corrections to the momentum distribution in a laser plasma

The evolution of the momentum distribution of particles in a nonrelativistic laser plasma is studied in the context of the kinetic theory of plasma based on the construction of propagators for the plasma particle distribution functions. Damping of plasma waves and induced braking absorption accelerate particles in a plasma. Quantum indeterminacy in energy, which is associated with the interaction of particles with plasma waves and their collisions with one another, also affects their momentum distribution. In the semiclassical approximation, general analytic expressions are obtained for the momentum distribution functions.

Analytical estimate of phase mixing time of longitudinal Akhiezer-Polovin waves

Phase mixing of a longitudinal Akhiezer-Polovin wave subjected to a small amplitude longitudinal perturbation and its eventual breaking is studied analytically. It is well known that longitudinal Akhiezer-Polovin wave subjected to arbitrarily small longitudinal perturbation breaks via the process of phase mixing at an amplitude well below its limiting amplitude [Verma et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 125005 (2012)]. We analytically show that the phase mixing time (breaking time, ωpτmix) scales with β (phase velocity) and um(maximum fluid velocity) as ωpτmix∼2πβ3δ[1/um2−1/4], where δ is the amplitude of velocity perturbation and ωp is the non-relativistic plasma frequency. This analytical dependence of phase mixing time on β, um, and δ is further verified using numerical simulations based on Dawson sheet model.

Dust-acoustic solitary and rogue waves in a Thomas-Fermi degenerate dusty plasma

The formation and propagation of dust-acoustic (DA) solitary and rogue waves are studied in a non-relativistic degenerate Thomas-Fermi thermal dusty plasma incorporating transverse velocity perturbation effects. The electrons and ions are described by the Thomas-Fermi density distributions, whereas the dust grains are taken as dynamic and classical. By using the reductive perturbation technique, the cylindrical Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (CKP) equation is derived, which is then transformed into a Korteweg-deVries (KdV) equation by using appropriate variable transformations. The latter admits a solitary wave solution. However, when the carrier waves frequency is much smaller than the dust plasma frequency, the DA waves evolve into the nonlinear modulation instability, generating modulated wave packets in the form of Rogue waves. For the study of DA-rogue waves, the KdV equation is transformed into a self-focusing nonlinear Schrodinger equation. The variation of dust temperature and the electron density affects the nonlinearity and dispersion coefficients which suppress the amplitudes of the DA solitary and rogue waves. The present results aim to describe the nonlinear electrostatic excitations in astrophysical degenerate dense plasma.

Exact Solutions of the Kompaneets Equation for Photon “Comptonization” Kinetics

The nonlinear Kompaneets equation for the evolution of the spectrum of a photon gas with Compton scattering in a rarefied nonrelativistic electron plasma (i.e., the “comptonization” of the radiation) is examined. Exact solutions of this equation are obtained by separation of variables. The solutions are expressed in terms of transcendental Heun and Bessel functions.

Bernstein instability driven by thermal ring distribution

The classic Bernstein waves may be intimately related to banded emissions detected in laboratory plasmas, terrestrial, and other planetary magnetospheres. However, the customary discussion of the Bernstein wave is based upon isotropic thermal velocity distribution function. In order to understand how such waves can be excited, one needs an emission mechanism, i.e., an instability. In non-relativistic collision-less plasmas, the only known Bernstein wave instability is that associated with a cold perpendicular velocity ring distribution function. However, cold ring distribution is highly idealized. The present Brief Communication generalizes the cold ring distribution model to include thermal spread, so that the Bernstein-ring instability is described by a more realistic electron distribution function, with which the stabilization by thermal spread associated with the ring distribution is demonstrated. The present findings imply that the excitation of Bernstein waves requires a sufficiently high perpendicular velocity gradient associated with the electron distribution function.

The effect of plasma background on the instability of two non-parallel quantum plasma shells in whole K space

In this paper, quantum fluid equations together with Maxwell's equations are used to study the stability problem of non-parallel and non-relativistic plasma shells colliding over a “background plasma” at arbitrary angle, as a first step towards a microscopic understanding of the collision shocks. The calculations have been performed for all magnitude and directions of wave vectors. The colliding plasma shells in the vacuum region have been investigated in the previous works as a counter-streaming model. While, in the presence of background plasma (more realistic system), the colliding shells are mainly non-paralleled. The obtained results show that the presence of background plasma often suppresses the maximum growth rate of instabilities (in particular case, this behavior is contrary). It is also found that the largest maximum growth rate occurs for the two-stream instability of the configuration consisting of counter-streaming currents in a very dilute plasma background. The results derived in this study can be used to analyze the systems of three colliding plasma slabs, provided that the used coordinate system is stationary relative to the one of the particle slabs. The present analytical investigations can be applied to describe the quantum violent astrophysical phenomena such as white dwarf stars collision with other dense astrophysical bodies or supernova remnants. Moreover, at the limit of ℏ→0, the obtained results described the classical (sufficiently dilute) events of colliding plasma shells such as gamma-ray bursts and flares in the solar winds.

Higher-order corrections to the Korteweg-de Vries Solitons in general plasmas

A fully relativistic multi-component plasma is considered as a template system for generic plasmas, and a reductive perturbation analysis is applied to the system up to the second and the third order to obtain partial differential equations that describe the evolution of the first-order (ϕ1) and the second-order (ϕ2) electrostatic potential waves. The secular-free one-soliton solution of the derived equations is obtained by using Kodama and Taniuti’s method [J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 45, 29898 (1978)]. The results of present paper are generic in the sense that they are independent of any specificity of the parameters of the physical system because they are derived without making any restrictive assumptions on the system parameters. The presented results are applicable to any kind of multi-component plasma system because all constituent species are treated on equal mathematical footings throughout the analyses until the final specification is made for the system parameters. The algebraic results are so general that they can even be applied to nonrelativistic plasmas when appropriate nonrelativistic approximations are made to the final expressions. Thus, the presented result can be considered as a template for the one-soliton solution that can used for a large class of different plasma systems. To demonstrate the utility of the template, we specialize the generic results to a relativistically hot electron-positron pair plasma where each species has a different temperature. The general result is also applied to a three-component plasma composed of a relativistically hot electron-positron pair plasma with small fraction of ions. The third order corrections to the KdV solitons of the examples are presented.

STRENGTH OF THE SPONTANEOUSLY EMITTED COLLECTIVE APERIODIC MAGNETIC FIELD FLUCTUATIONS IN THE REIONIZED EARLY INTERGALACTIC MEDIUM

Nonmagnetized, fully ionized plasmas spontaneously emit aperiodic turbulent magnetic field fluctuations. Its fluctuation intensities are dominated by the contribution from a recently discovered collective, damped mode, which modifies the earlier estimate of the total magnetic field strength in a thermal nonrelativistic electron-proton plasma to G, where g denotes the plasma parameter and β e the thermal electron velocity in units of the speed of light, in the case of no collisional damping. Accounting for simultaneous viscous damping reduces the estimate to |δB|eq = 2305g(nemec 2)1/2 G, depending only on the plasma parameter g and the electron density ne . For the unmagnetized intergalactic medium, immediately after the reionization onset the field strengths from this mechanism are about 6.8 × 10–13 G for no collisional damping and 1.5 × 10–16 G for viscous damping. Maximum spatial scales of 1015 cm of the emitted aperiodic fluctuations in cosmic voids are possible.

KINETIC THEORY OF EQUILIBRIUM AXISYMMETRIC COLLISIONLESS PLASMAS IN OFF-EQUATORIAL TORI AROUND COMPACT OBJECTS

The possible occurrence of equilibrium off-equatorial tori in the gravitational and electromagnetic fields of astrophysical compact objects has been recently proved based on non-ideal MHD theory. These stationary structures can represent plausible candidates for the modelling of coronal plasmas expected to arise in association with accretion discs. However, accretion disc coronae are formed by a highly diluted environment, and so the fluid description may be inappropriate. The question is posed of whether similar off-equatorial solutions can be determined also in the case of collisionless plasmas for which treatment based on kinetic theory, rather than fluid one, is demanded. In this paper the issue is addressed in the framework of the Vlasov-Maxwell description for non-relativistic multi-species axisymmetric plasmas subject to an external dominant spherical gravitational and dipolar magnetic field. Equilibrium configurations are investigated and explicit solutions for the species kinetic distribution function are constructed, which are expressed in terms of generalized Maxwellian functions characterized by isotropic temperature and non-uniform fluid fields. The conditions for the existence of off-equatorial tori are investigated. It is proved that these levitating systems are admitted under general conditions when both gravitational and magnetic fields contribute to shaping the spatial profiles of equilibrium plasma fluid fields. Then, specifically-kinetic effects carried by the equilibrium solution are explicitly provided and identified here with diamagnetic, energy-correction and electrostatic contributions. It is shown that these kinetic terms characterize the plasma equation of state by introducing non-vanishing deviations from the assumption of thermal pressure.

Spontaneous electromagnetic fluctuations in unmagnetized plasmas. V. Relativistic form factors of weakly damped/amplified thermal modes

Closed analytical expressions for the spontaneously emitted fluctuation spectra of weakly damped/amplified fluctuations in unmagnetized plasmas are derived using fully relativistic dispersion functions and form factors for the important class of isotropic thermal plasmas. Especially, an electron-proton plasma is investigated in the limits of nonrelativistic and ultrarelativistic plasma temperatures. The results confirm the earlier nonrelativistic approach for positive values of the imaginary frequency γ and complete the nonrelativistic treatment for negative values of γ<0. The well known electrostatic, collective Langmuir mode also occurs within the relativistic theory of spontaneously emitted fluctuations and is analytically and graphically identified. For the first time, the ultrarelativistic temperature limit is analyzed for subluminal phase speeds, which leads to the identification of an additional, so far unknown, longitudinal subluminal collective mode.