Relativistic kinetic theory of the large-amplitude transverse Alfvén wave
- 1 January 1971
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Journal of Plasma Physics
- Vol. 5 (3) , 315-329
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022377800005833
Abstract
It is shown that the relativistic Vlasov–Maxwell equations admit a solution very much like the transverse Alfvén wave of magnetohydrodynamic theory. This wave propagates as a plane electromagnetic wave of arbitrary amplitude, is noncompressive, is associated with fluctuations in direction (but not magnitude) of magnetic field, is characterized by a non-linear ‘dispersion relation’, and reduces in the limit of small amplitude to the transverse Alfvén mode of linearized plasma wave theory. The dispersion relation yields a criterion for the firehose instability which turns out to be the same as that derived from linearized theory.Keywords
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