Longitudinal electric current generated by a transverse electromagnetic field in a collisional plasma

We consider a collisional plasma with an arbitrary degree of degeneration of the electron gas. The plasma is located in an external electromagnetic field. We calculate the electric current generated in the plasma by the electromagnetic field. We show that the electric current has two nonzero components. One component is a transverse current, obtained by a linear analysis. The second component is a longitudinal current directed along the wave vector and orthogonal to the transverse current. We consider the case of small wave numbers. As the collision rate tends to zero, all the derived formulas pass into formulas for a collisionless plasma. We perform a graphical investigation of the dimensionless current density depending on the wave number, the oscillation frequency of the electromagnetic field, and the rate of electron collisions with plasma particles.     

Longitudinal electric conductivity in a quantum plasma with a variable collision frequency in the framework of the Mermin approach

In the framework of the Mermin approach, we obtain formulas for the longitudinal electric conductivity in a quantum collisional plasma with a collision frequency depending on the momentum. We use a kinetic equation in the momentum space in the relaxation approximation. We show that as the Planck constant tends to zero, the derived formula transforms into the corresponding formula for a classical plasma. We also show that as the frequency of collisions between plasma particles tends to zero (the plasma transforms into a collisionless plasma), the derived formula transforms into the well-known Klimontovich-Silin formula for the collisionless plasma. We show that if the collision frequency is constant, then the derived formula for the permittivity transforms into the well-known Mermin formula.     

Transverse electrical conductivity of a quantum collisional plasma in the Mermin approach

We derive formulas for the transverse electrical conductivity and the permittivity in a quantum collisional plasma using the kinetic equation for the density matrix in the relaxation approximation in the momentum space. We show that the derived formula becomes the classical formula when the Planck constant tends to zero and that when the electron collision rate tends to zero (i.e., the plasma becomes collisionless), the derived formulas become the previously obtained Lindhard formulas. We also show that when the wave number tends to zero, the quantum conductivity becomes classical. We compare the obtained conductivity with the conductivity obtained by Lindhard and with the classical conductivity     

Longitudinal permittivity of a quantum degenerate collisional plasma

We find the permittivity of a degenerate electron gas for a collisional plasma. We use the Wigner-Vlasov-Boltzmann kinetic equation with the collision integral in the relaxation form in the coordinate space. We study the Kohn permittivity singularities and reveal their spreading in the collisionless plasma.     

Nondegenerate plasma with a diffusive boundary condition in a high-frequency electric field near resonance

An analytical solution of the linearized problem concerning the behavior of collisional non-degenerate plasma in an external electric field is obtained. It is assumed that the electrons are diffusively scattered from the plasma boundary. The resulting solution is used to determine the screening field. The case of a high-frequency external field with a frequency close to the plasma resonance frequency is examined.     

Degenerate plasma in a half-space under an external electric field

An analytic solution is found for the problem on the behavior of a collisional plasma in a variable external electric field. We elucidate the structure of the screened electric field and investigate the case where the frequency of the external field is close to the plasma oscillation frequency (resonance). We show that there are two near-surface layers where the behavior of the screened field differs essentially. __________ Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Matematicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 147, No. 3, pp. 487–502, June, 2006.     

Analytic solution to the problem of the behavior of a collisional plasma in a half-space in an external alternating electric field

An exact solution to the linearized problem of the behavior of a collisional plasma in a half-space in an external alternating electric field is obtained. Mirror boundary conditions are used. The eigenvectors of the corresponding characteristic system are found in the space of generalized functions, and the eigenvalue spectrum is investigated. A theorem on the expansion of the solution of the investigated boundary-value problem with respect to eigenvectors is proved. An expression for calculating a discrete mode is found explicitly.Pedagogical University, Moscow. Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Matematicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 103, No. 2, pp. 299–311, May, 1995.     

Interactions of nonlinear ion-acoustic waves in a collisionless plasma

In the present work, based on a one-dimensional model, the interaction of two solitary waves propagating in opposite directions in a collisionless plasma is investigated by use of the extended Poincaré–Lighthill–Kuo (PLK) method. It is shown that bi-directional solitary waves are propagated and the head-on collision of these two solitons occur. The phase shifts and the trajectories of these two solitons after the collision are obtained.     

Simulation of collisionless ultrarelativistic electron–proton plasma dynamics in a self-consistent electromagnetic field

The evolution of a collisionless electron–proton plasma in the self-consistent approximation is investigated. The plasma is assumed to move initially as a whole in a vacuum with the Lorentz factor. The behavior of the dynamical system is analyzed by applying a three-dimensional model based on the Vlasov–Maxwell equations with allowance for retarded potentials. It is shown that the analysis of the solution to the problem is not valid in the “center-of-mass frame” of the plasmoid (since it cannot be correctly defined for a relativistic plasma interacting via an electromagnetic field) and the transition to a laboratory frame of reference is required. In the course of problem solving, a chaotic electromagnetic field is generated by the plasma particles. As a result, the particle distribution functions in the phase space change substantially and differ from their Maxwell–Juttner form. Computations show that the kinetic energies of the electron and proton components and the energy of the self-consistent electromagnetic field become identical. A tendency to the isotropization of the particle momentum distribution in the direction of the initial plasmoid motion is observed.     

Vlasov equilibria: Varying the temperature or the density distributions

Stationary selfconsistent solutions of the Vlasov–Maxwell system in a magnetized inhomogeneous plasma (so called Vlasov equilibria) provide the natural starting point for the investigation of plasma stability and of the nonlinear development of plasma instabilities in collisionless or weakly collisional regimes. In view of the different mechanisms that drive these instabilities, we discuss Vlasov equilibria with both density and temperature gradients.     

The behavior of plasma with an arbitrary degree of degeneracy of electron gas in the conductive layer

We obtain an analytic solution of the boundary problem for the behavior (fluctuations) of an electron plasma with an arbitrary degree of degeneracy of the electron gas in the conductive layer in an external electric field. We use the kinetic Vlasov–Boltzmann equation with the Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook collision integral and the Maxwell equation for the electric field. We use the mirror boundary conditions for the reflections of electrons from the layer boundary. The boundary problem reduces to a one-dimensional problem with a single velocity. For this, we use the method of consecutive approximations, linearization of the equations with respect to the absolute distribution of the Fermi–Dirac electrons, and the conservation law for the number of particles. Separation of variables then helps reduce the problem equations to a characteristic system of equations. In the space of generalized functions, we find the eigensolutions of the initial system, which correspond to the continuous spectrum (Van Kampen mode). Solving the dispersion equation, we then find the eigensolutions corresponding to the adjoint and discrete spectra (Drude and Debye modes). We then construct the general solution of the boundary problem by decomposing it into the eigensolutions. The coefficients of the decomposition are given by the boundary conditions. This allows obtaining the decompositions of the distribution function and the electric field in explicit form.     

Plasma waves reflection from a boundary with specular accommodative boundary conditions

In the present work the linearized problem of plasma wave reflection from a boundary of a half-space is solved analytically. Specular accommodative conditions of plasma wave reflection from plasma boundary are taken into consideration. Wave reflectance is found as function of the given parameters of the problem, and its dependence on the normal electron momentum accommodation coefficient is shown by the authors. The case of resonance when the frequency of self-consistent electric field oscillations is close to the electron (Langmuir) plasma oscillations frequency, namely, the case of long-wave limit is analyzed in the present paper.     

Behavior of a plasma with the collision rate proportional to the electron velocity in an external electric field

We solve the problem of the behavior of a gas plasma in a half-space analytically using the kinetic equation with the collision rate proportional to the modulus of the electron velocity. The plasma is in a variable external electric field. The specular reflection of electrons from the plasma boundary is used as a boundary condition. We use the solution to find the screened electric field. __________ Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Matematicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 153, No. 3, pp. 409–421, December, 2007.     

Explicit solutions of the one‐dimensional Vlasov–Poisson system with infinite mass

A collisionless plasma is modelled by the Vlasov–Poisson system in one dimension. A fixed background of positive charge, dependent only upon velocity, is assumed and the situation in which the mobile negative ions balance the positive charge as |x| → ∞ is considered. Thus, the total positive charge and the total negative charge are infinite. In this paper, the charge density of the system is shown to be compactly supported. More importantly, both the electric field and the number density are determined explicitly for large values of |x|. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantum theoretic explanation of the Schwarz-Hora effect

Following the path-integral approach we show that the Schwarz-Hora effect is a one-electron quantum-mechanical phenomenon in that the de Broglie wave associated with a single electron is modulated by the oscillating electric field. The treatment brings out the crucial role played by the crystal in providing a discontinuity in the longitudinal component of the electric field. The expression derived for the resulting current density shows the appropriate oscillatory behaviour in time and distance. The possibility of there being a temporal counterpart of Aharonov-Bohm effect is briefly discussed in this context.

     

Propagating waves in elastic material with voids subjected to electro-magnetic interactions

Constitutive relations and field equations are developed for an elastic solid with voids subjected to electro-magnetic field. The linearized form of the relations and equations are presented separately when medium is subjected to a large magnetic field and when it is subjected to a large electric field. The possibility of propagation of time harmonic plane waves in an infinite elastic solid with voids has been explored. It is found that when the medium is subjected to large magnetic field, there exist two coupled longitudinal waves propagating with distinct speeds and a transverse wave mode. However, when the medium is subjected to a large electric field, there may propagate five basic waves comprising of four coupled longitudinal waves propagating with distinct speeds and a lone transverse wave. The effects of magnetic and electric fields are observed on the propagation characteristics of the existing waves. Under the limiting cases of frequency and for different electric conductive materials, the speeds of various waves are investigated. The phase speeds of different waves and their corresponding attenuations have been computed against the frequency parameter and depicted graphically for a specific material.     

On the stability of spatially uniform Langmuir oscillations of electronic plasmas

We investigate the stability of spatially uniform, time-periodic solutions of the one-dimensional Vlasov–Maxwell system describing the longitudinal oscillations of an electronic plasma in an uniform neutralizing ion background. We show that such a stability problem can be trivially solved since the zero wave number mode of the electric field, i.e. its space average, performs pure Langmuir oscillations independently of the other modes. We however point out that such oscillations do affect on time average the evolution of the velocity distribution function in the frame at rest.     

Quasi-Neutral Limit for Euler-Poisson System

Summary. This paper provides a rigorous proof of the quasi-neutral limit for the Euler-Poisson system on a bounded domain in one space dimension. The most general case is being considered when the plasma is sustained by ionization. A wide range of plasmas, from collisionless to highly collisional, is permitted. At the plasma center, the ions are assumed to be at rest, and essentially quasi-neutral initial data are prescribed. The theorem asserts that the quasi-neutral limit is obtained until the ion velocity reaches the ion-sound speed. In addition, formal matched asymptotic expansions are given which describe the solution in its passage from the plasma center to the wall. Received June 8, 2000; accepted February 10, 2001 Online publication April 20, 2001     

Application of the particle method to simulate one-dimensional bounded plasma with a distributed sources

We consider the behavior of a plasma bounded in the longitudinal direction by absorbing walls. The model contains charged particles (electrons and ions) moving in the direction of an external magnetic field with two velocity components: longitudinal and transverse. The charged particles are created in pairs by a distributed source. The working model is based on the electrostatic “particles in a cell” method augmented by Emmert's model for a volume source and a model of binary Coulomb particle collisions using the Monte Carlo method. Calculation results are reported for a model with electron-ion collisions and for a collisionless plasma model. Translated from Chislennye Metody v Matematicheskoi Fizike, Published by Moscow University, Moscow, 1996, pp. 100–109.