Space plasma under extreme conditions

Attributes of extreme conditions in space and the new properties which plasma acquires in this case are discussed. The discussion is focussed on the features of interaction between plasma and radiation in strong magnetic fields of degenerate stars—white dwarfs or neutron stars. The specific role of cyclotron scattering, radiation pressure at cyclotron frequencies, and vacuum birefringence in the formation of plasma envelopes and the observed spectra of these objects is pointed out. The contents of this paper provided the basis for the report at the scientific session of the General Physics and Astronomy Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences devoted to the eightieth anniversary of Vitaly L. Ginzburg. Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhny Novgorod; Max Plank Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, Garching, Germany. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 40, Nos. 1–2, pp. 17–36, January–February, 1997.