Electromagnetic fluctuations and normal modes of a drifting relativistic plasma

Abstract

We present an exact calculation of the power spectrum of the electromagnetic fluctuations in a relativistic equilibrium plasma described by Maxwell-Jüttner distribution functions. We consider the cases of wave vectors parallel or normal to the plasma mean velocity. The relative contributions of the subluminal and supraluminal fluctuations are evaluated. Analytical expressions of the spatial fluctuation spectra are derived in each case. These theoretical results are compared to particle-in-cell simulations, showing a good reproduction of the subluminal fluctuation spectra.

This article has been published in Physics of Plasmas in november 2013

References in corpus (2)

• On the structure of relativistic collisionless shocks in electron-ion plasmas
• Collisionless shock formation, spontaneous electromagnetic fluctuations and streaming instabilities

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• Balance equations in semi-relativistic quantum hydrodynamics
• NLSE for quantum plasmas with the radiation damping