2011/02/17 by Saleem, Hamid
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics #Magnetic confinement fusion research #Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph) #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1102.3497
openalex publication_date 2011/02/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
It is pointed out that the unmagnetized inhomogeneous plasmas can support a low frequency electromagnetic ion wave as a normal mode like Alfven wave of magnetized plasmas. But this is a coupled mode produced by the mixing of longitudinal and transverse components of perturbed electric field due to density inhomogeneity. The ion acoustic wave does not remain electrostatic in non-uniform plasmas. On the other hand, a low frequency electrostatic wave can also exist in the pure electron plasmas. But the magnetic field fluctuations in both electron as well as in electron-ion plasmas are coupled with the electrostatic perturbations in unmagnetized case. The main instability condition for these low frequency electrostatic and electromagnetic modes is the same 2/3κn < κT (where κn and κT are inverse of the scale lengths of density and electron temperature, respectively).