Dispersion relations for electromagnetic waves in a dense magnetized plasma

Abstract

Abstract Dispersion relations for elliptically polarized extraordinary as well as linearly polarized ordinary electromagnetic waves propagating across an external magnetic field in a dense magnetoplasma are derived, taking into account the combined effects of the quantum electrodynamical (QED) field, as well as the quantum forces associated with the Bohm potential and the magnetization energy of the electrons due to the electron-1/2 spin effect. The QED (vacuum polarization) effects, which contribute to the nonlinear electron current density, modify the refractive index. Our results concern the propagation characteristics of perpendicularly propagating high-frequency electromagnetic waves in dense astrophysical objects (e.g. neutron stars and magnetars), as well as the next-generation intense laser-solid density plasma interaction experiments and quantum free-electron laser schemes. © 2008 Copyright Cambridge University Press 2008.