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Dispersion in a relativistic degenerate electron gas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2007

J. McORIST ,
D. B. MELROSE  and
J. I. WEISE
J. McORIST
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia ([email protected]) Department of Physics, University of Chicago, 5640 S. Ellis Ave., Chicago, IL 60637, USA
D. B. MELROSE
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia ([email protected])
J. I. WEISE
Affiliation:
School of Physics, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia ([email protected])
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Abstract

Relativistic effects on dispersion in a degenerate electron gas are discussed by comparing known response functions derived relativistically and non-relativistically. The main distinguishing feature is one-photon pair creation, which leads to logarithmic singularities in the response functions. Dispersion curves for longitudinal waves have a similar tongue-like appearance in the relativistic and non-relativistic case, with the main relativistic effects being on the Fermi speed and the cutoff frequency. For transverse waves the non-relativistic treatment has a non-physical feature near the cutoff frequency for large Fermi momenta, and this is attributed to an incorrect treatment of the electron spin. We find (with two important provisos) that one-photon pair creation is allowed in superdense plasmas, implying relatively strong coupling between transverse waves and pair creation.

Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 73 , Issue 4 , August 2007 , pp. 495 - 513
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

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