Kinetic equilibria of relativistic collisionless plasmas in the presence of non-stationary electromagnetic fields

Journal Article · Sat Mar 15 04:00:00 EDT 2014 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4868238· OSTI ID:22251925

Cremaschini, Claudio; Stuchlík, Zdeněk ^[1]; Tessarotto, Massimo ^[1]

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1. Faculty of Philosophy and Science, Institute of Physics, Silesian University in Opava, Bezručovo nám.13, CZ-74601 Opava (Czech Republic)

The kinetic description of relativistic plasmas in the presence of time-varying and spatially non-uniform electromagnetic (EM) fields is a fundamental theoretical issue both in astrophysics and plasma physics. This refers, in particular, to the treatment of collisionless and strongly-magnetized plasmas in the presence of intense radiation sources. In this paper, the problem is investigated in the framework of a covariant gyrokinetic treatment for Vlasov–Maxwell equilibria. The existence of a new class of kinetic equilibria is pointed out, which occur for spatially-symmetric systems. These equilibria are shown to exist in the presence of non-uniform background EM fields and curved space-time. In the non-relativistic limit, this feature permits the determination of kinetic equilibria even for plasmas in which particle energy is not conserved due to the occurrence of explicitly time-dependent EM fields. Finally, absolute stability criteria are established which apply in the case of infinitesimal symmetric perturbations that can be either externally or internally produced.

• OSTI ID: 22251925
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 21; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS
COLLISIONLESS PLASMA
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
EQUILIBRIUM
PERTURBATION THEORY
RADIATION SOURCES
RELATIVISTIC PLASMA
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
SPACE-TIME
SYMMETRY
TIME DEPENDENCE