PROPAGATION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES IN PLASMAS

Journal Article · Fri Mar 15 00:00:00 EST 1963 · Physical Review (U.S.) Superseded in part by Phys. Rev. A, Phys. Rev. B: Solid State, Phys. Rev. C, and Phys. Rev. D

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.129.2376· OSTI ID:4740898

DuBois, D F; Gilinsky, V; Kivelson, M G

Green's function techniques are used to treat the propagation of electromagnetic waves in uniform, weakiy interacting plasmas near equilibrium in the absence of external magnetic fields. The frequency and the damping of electromagnetic waves in a medium are related to the local complex conductivity tensor, which is calculated by the diagrammatic techniques of modern field theory. Physical quantities are calculated in terms of a consistent manyparticle perturbation expansion in powers of a (weak) coupling parameter. An open-diagram technique is introduced that simplifies the calculation of absorptive parts. For long-wavelength longitudinal waves (i.e., electron plasma oscillations) it is found that the main absorption mechanism in the electron-ion plasma is the two- particle collision process appropriately corrected for collective effects and not the one-particle (or Landau) damping process. Electronion collisions produce a damping effect, which remains finite for long wavelengths. The effect of electron-electron collisions vanishes in this limit. The absorption of transverse radiation is also considered. The results for the absorptive part of the conductivity tensor for long-wavelength electromagnetic waves in a plasma where the phase velocity omega /k is much greater than the rms particle velocity is derived. The effects of dynamic screening are entirely contained in a definite integral, which is numerically evaluated. The calculations are valid for a range of temperatures and densities. This range makes justifiable the use of Boltzmann statistics, the Born approximation, and the neglect of wave mechanical interference effects. The weak-coupling approximation is also justified. The plasma is in this range if for example, T > 10/sup 6/ deg K and n < 10/sup 20/ particles/cm/sup 3/. For these hot plasmas a natural short- wavelength cutoff appears at roughly the thermal de Broglie wavelength. Electrons and ions are found to produce comparable screening effects. To illustrate the application of these techniques to degenerate, low-temperature systems, the absorption process in a highdensity electron gas is briefly considered. (auth)

• Research Organization: RAND Corp., Santa Monica, Calif.
• NSA Number: NSA-17-017373
• OSTI ID: 4740898
• Report Number(s): RM-3224-AEC; 0031-899X
• Journal Information: Physical Review (U.S.) Superseded in part by Phys. Rev. A, Phys. Rev. B: Solid State, Phys. Rev. C, and Phys. Rev. D, Vol. Vol: 129; Other Information: RM-3224-AEC. Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-63
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

PHYSICS
ABSORPTION
BORN APPROXIMATION
DENSITY
DIAGRAMS
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
ELECTRIC CHARGES
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES
ELECTRONS
FIELD THEORY
FREQUENCY
GREEN FUNCTION
HIGH TEMPERATURE
INTEGRALS
INTERACTIONS
IONS
MANY BODY PROBLEM
MATHEMATICS
MAXWELL DISTRIBUTION
MOTION
NUMERICALS
OSCILLATIONS
PERTURBATION THEORY
PLASMA
PLASMA WAVES
QUANTUM MECHANICS
RADIATIONS
SCATTERING
STATISTICS
TEMPERATURE
TENSORS
THERMODYNAMICS
VECTORS
VELOCITY