Linear wave propagation in relativistic magnetohydrodynamics

Linear wave propagation in relativistic magnetohydrodynamics

The properties of linear Alfvén, slow, and fast magnetoacoustic waves for uniform plasmas in relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) are discussed, augmenting the well-known expressions for their phase speeds with knowledge on the group speed. A 3 + 1 formalism is purposely adopted to make direct comparison with the Newtonian MHD limits easier and to stress the graphical representation of their...

Relativistic magnetohydrodynamics

The lowest-order description of a magnetized plasma is given by magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). However, many astrophysical plasmas (as well as some laboratory plasmas) are relativistic, in that either the thermal speed or the fluid flow speed approaches the speed of light, and conventional MHD is not consistent with special relativity. Beginning with exact laws of motion, this work derives a gener...

Electromagnetic Wave Propagation in the Relativistic Regime

An electromagnetic wave is expected to propagate through an overdense plasma, provided that its amplitude is large enough to bring the electron motion into the relativistic regime. We study this induced transparency by using 1D and 2D particle simulations. We find that large chaotic longitudinal electric fields are generated and strong plasma heating takes place during the propagation. This beh...

Wave propagation in linear electrodynamics

The Fresnel equation governing the propagation of electromagnetic waves for the most general linear constitutive law is derived. The wave normals are found to lie, in general, on a fourth order surface. When the constitutive coefficients satisfy the so-called reciprocity or closure relation, one can define a duality operator on the space of the two-forms. We prove that the closure relation is a...

General relativistic hydrodynamics and magnetohydrodynamics: hyperbolic systems in relativistic astrophysics