Chapter 1

Introduction
Matter in the known universe can be classified in terms of four states: solid, liquid, gaseous, and
plasma. The basic distinction between solids, liquids and gases lies in the difference between the
strength of the bonds that hold their constituent particles together. The equilibrium between
particle thermal (=random kinetic) energy and the interparticle binding forces determines the
state. Heating of a solid or liquid substance leads to phase transition to a liquid or gaseous
state, respectively. This takes place at a constant temperature for a given pressure, and requires
an amount of energy known as latent heat. On the other hand, the transition from a gas to
an ionized gas, i.e., plasma, is not a phase transition, since it occurs gradually with increasing
temperature. During the process, a molecular gas dissociates first into an atomic gas which,
with increasing temperature, is ionized as the collisions between atoms are able to free the
outermost orbital electrons. Resulting plasma consists of a mixture of neutral particles, positive
ions (atoms or molecules that have lost one or more electrons), and negative electrons. In a
weakly ionized plasma the charge-neutral interactions are still important, while in strongly
ionized plasma the multiple Coulomb interactions are dominant.
Because some or all particles are electrically charged and capable of creating and interacting
with electromagnetic fields, many phenomena not present in ordinary fluids and solids can be
found in plasmas. A plasma is a conductor of electricity, but a volume with dimensions greater
than the so-called Debye length exhibits electrically neutral behavior. At a microscopic level,
corresponding to distances shorter than the Debye length, the particles of a plasma do not
exhibit collective behavior but instead react individually to a disturbance, for example, an
3

electric field.
On the Earth , plasmas usually do not occur naturally except in the form of lightning bolts,
which consist of narrow paths of air molecules of which approximately 20 percent are ionized,
and in parts of flames. The free electrons in a metal can also be considered as a plasma. Most of
the universe, however, consists of matter in the plasma state. The ionization is caused by high
temperatures as described above (e.g., inside the Sun and other stars), or by radiation, as in
interstellar gases (e.g., solar wind ) or, closer to the Earth, in the ionosphere and magnetosphere.

1.1

Applications of Plasma

Plasma can be characterized by two parameters n and KTe , n varies over 28 orders of magnitude
from 106 to 1034 m3 , and KTe can vary over seven orders from 0.1 to 106 eV. Some of these
applications are discussed briefly below.

1.1.1

Electrical Discharge

During the lightening in a thunderstorm, very powerful uncontrolled electrical discharges occur.
In order to achieve controlled thunder storms in a laboratory a vacuum-sealed tube is used
in which the density of gas is reduced significantly by many orders of magnitude. This tube
contains two metals, i.e., electrode, the anode and the cathode, connected through wires to a
battery and operated by a switch. When the switch is turned on, an electric discharge occur
inside the tube. The gas is ionized and as a result, DC current flows through a gas.

1.1.2

Radio Frequency (RF) Discharge

In RF discharge, the power supply interacts with the plasma instead of real discharge. The RF
power creates displacement current inside the plasma and delivers energy to the plasma. The
RF in comparison with the DC method, can be advantageous since the material of electrodes
may introduce impurities into plasma.

1.1.3

Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion

Thermonuclear fusion reaction offers, in principle, an inexhaustible source of energy for the
future without the problem of radioactive waste that are inherent in fission reactors. In this
process light nuclei combine to form a heavier one, the total final mass being slightly less than
the total initial mass. In order to fuse nuclei, it is necessary that nuclei have sufficient energy to
overcome the Coulomb repulsion and allow a significant overlap of the nuclear wave functions.
The most promising method is to heat the fuel to a sufficient high temperature so that the
thermal velocities of the nuclei are high enough to produce the required reactions. Such a
scheme is referred as thermonuclear fusion reaction.
Two general schemes, Magnetic Confinement Fusion (MCF) and Inertial confinement Fusion
(ICF), are being pursued for controlled thermonuclear reactions to take place.

1.2

Plasma in Space

The concept of plasma actually originated in the study of stellar atmosphere. M.N. Saha [1920]
was the first scientist to describe the plasma state of matter in the steller atmosphere by his
ionization equation given by



3/2
ni
Ui
15 T
2.4 10
exp
nn
ne
KT

(1.1)

The eq.(1.1) shows that the ionization rate is dependent strongly on the temperature of the
gas.
Plasmas in general are not exotic, they are natural and common. The interplanetary and
interstellar medium and the stars are made of ionized gases. Thus about 99% of matter in the
universe is Plasma. Thus even in the system Earth a significant part of matter is in the Plasma
state[1]. Plasma Physics, therefore, contributes to the understanding our environment. In turn,
the natural Plasma laboratories, i.e. the ionosphere, the magnetosphere, and interplanetary
space, help to test the concept of Plasma Physics on spatial scales and with densities which can
not be realized in our laboratory.

1.3

Multicomponent Plasma

A multicomponent plasma is defined as a plasma which contains additional components other

than the usual ions and electrons plasma species. These particles may be heavy Z-elements or
massive dust grains, which increases the complexity of the system. So, multicomponent plasma
is divided into two sub-groups i.e. Impurities in plasma and Dusty plasma depending upon
the size and nature of the additional component.

1.3.1

Impurities in Plasma

Most of the Laboratory plasmas face the problem of impurities due to plasma particles interaction with the wall material of the container. The presence of these high Z impurity ions (or
molecules) enhances the radiation losses from the plasma and hence make it difficult to achieve
the desired plasma condition. The impurity ions not only reduces the temperature but also
changes the behavior of the plasma. Therefore, some auxiliary heating schemes are usually
employed to encounter the radiation losses and diverters are used to control the impurities.
Although, impuries add problems in confining the plasma but in some cases it can also help us
to gain better plasma parameter by initiating radiative collapse in Pinch devices.

1.3.2

Dusty Plasma

A dusty plasma is defined as a normal electron-ion plasma with an additional charged component
of micron- or submicron-sized particulates. This extra component of macroparticles increases
the complexity of the system. This is why a dusty plasma is also referred to as a Complex
Plasma. Dusty Plasmas are low temperature fully or partially ionized electrically conducting
gases whose constituents are electrons, ions, charged dust grains and neutral atoms. Dust grains
are massive (billions times heavier than the protons) and their sizes range from nanometers to
millimeters. Dust grains may be metallic, conducting, or made of ice particulates. The size and
shape of dust grains will be different. However, when viewed from afar, they can be considered
as point charges [?].

1.4

Plasma as a Fluid

In plasma, one has to deal with large number of charged particles. If each of these particles
follow a complicated trajectory, it becomes impossible to predict the plasma behavior. Hence,
there is need to find techniques to handle plasma to have accurate results. One such approach
is to assume plasma to be a conducting fluid. Hence, the model in which the identity of the
individual is neglected and motion of fluid elements is taken into account called the Fluid
model. This model makes use of the well established equations of fluid mechanics with some
general properties of ideal fluids applicable to plasma. This model, which is often referred to
as the magneto hydro dynamics(MHD) model, has been successful in explaining the majority
of plasma in plasma physics [45].
There are some phenomena, for which fluid treatment is inadequate. For these we need
to consider the velocity distribution function f (v) for each species. The fundamental equation
which f(r, v, t) has to satisfy is the Boltzman equation, which contain collision term. If collision
term is neglected, the Boltzman equation reduce to Vlasov equation. Because of its comparative
simplicity, this is the equation most commonly studied in kinetic theory.
In Chapter 2, we shall give an account of an alternative approach, viz, the Kinetic model in
which the identity of the individual particle are taken into account.

1.5

Distribution Function

1.5.1

Maxwellian Distribution

Many applications in Space physics, Geophysics and Astrophysics assume that plasma is in
thermal equilibrium. The reason is that collision processes which must occur to thermalize
particle velocity distribution and transfer energy from one species of particle to an other take
place on such short time scale that they can be regarded as more or less instantaneous. This
relatively simple distribution function prevails when collisions dominate. In other words, a
system of particles with excess energy would Maxwellize through collisions in a certain time
known as relaxation time. For an isotropic plasma, this distribution is given by:

f (v) =

1.5.2

M
2T



Mv2
exp
2T

Non-Maxwellian Plasmas

In the natural space environment, Plasmas have been generally observed to have a non-Maxwellian
high energy tail owing to a variety of reasons, for example, when high energy electrons are injected from outside the Plasma, or when a Plasma is produced by strong external interactions
[4]. In Space, examples of Plasmas with non-thermal equilibrium are solar flares, solar wind,
galactic cosmic rays and superthermal radiation fields. The physical mechanisms responsible
for such distributions in space is the passage of a collisionless shock wave.
Motivated by the growing use of the new model distributions, we have chosen to investigate
some of the fundamental dispersion equations in Plasma Physics using two non-Maxwellian
distributions [5]. A comparision of these distributions have been presented in this work. Moreover, a competitive analysis of the dispersion functions based on these distributions have also
been made by through a set of graphs. The theoretical model we have used for deriving the
dispersion equations is the Plasma Kinetic Model.
Generalized Lorentzian Distribution
As already stated that Maxwellian distribution is applicable to a system in thermodynamic
equilibrium. A spatial variation of the physical quantities such as density, the temperature and
the intensity of magnetic field may be involved in laboratory as well as astrophysical plasmas.
Plasma may also be subject to the influence of external force fields, which would create flows
of particles in plasmas. Consequently, in the natural space environment, plasmas have been
generally observed to have a non-Maxwellian high energy tail. Generalized Lorentzian type
distributions have been found to be useful in formal plasma wave theory [4], fluctuation theory,
and a large numalid as long as no discrete particle relaxation effects set on [1]. More thaber of
problems in Space Plasma [5]. A thermodynamical study suggestes that these distributions are
quasisteady statistical states far from thermal equilibrium vn fifteen years ago, it was suggested
that such distributions result from wave-particle interaction [49]. It is now almost an established

fact.
A three dimensional generalized Lorentzian is given by [4]

1
2
v2
v
( + 1)
f0 = 3
 1+ 2 + 2

3

2 2  2 12
1

where,

2

2 3



T
m

2 3



T
m

(1.2)

and
2

A three dimensional generalized (r, q) distribution is given as

f0 =

3
4 2 

(q)
3
2+2r

(q 1)
2
V
V2
1
1 +
+
q 1 2
2

3
3
)(1 + 2+2r
)
(q 2+2r

r+1 q

where,

3(q 1) r+1 (q

3(q 1) r+1 (q

2 =

5
( 2+2r
)(q

 
3
3
2+2r )( 2+2r ) T
5
m
2+2r
)

and
2 =

5
( 2+2r
)(q

where , q and r are the spectral indices.

 
3
3
2+2r )( 2+2r ) T
5
m
2+2r
)

(1.3)

General Properties of the distributions

Important features of the distributions used in the present work are listed below.
1. These are normalized so that

f d3 v = 1,

2. When the velocities of the particles are higher than thermal velocities the distributions
obey an inverse power law, i.e., f (energy)(+1) .
3. For all velocities, in the limit (For Bi-Lorentzian and Product Bi-Lorentzian Distributions) and q (for (r, q) distribution), these distributions approach the Maxwellian.
That is, the high energy tail disappears as we increase the value of the spectral indices.
This is evident from the attached graphs Fig. 1.1. Moreover, as we use higher values
of the spectral indices, the shapes of the graphs become more and more similar to one
another.
4. They represent an anisotropic distribution realized by assigning two different temperatures
T and T (with respect to the applied magnetic field) to represent degrees of freedom.
A set of graphs have been given at the end of the Chapter 4, which further highlight the
specific characteristics of each distribution.

1.5.3

Semi-relativistic Maxwellian Distribution

The semirelativistic Maxwellian distribution function is

f0 =

1
(2)

3
2

1
mT



1/2 
1
2
2
2
2
p
p
1
mc
mc

1+
exp

1 + 2 2 1
mT
T
2mT
T
m c

(1.4)

Hoping that the semirelativistic plasma might occur in spiralling arm of the galaxy where the
perpendicular temperature dominates over the parallel. Other possibility of such an unstable
situation may occur in the context of pinch effect.

10

1.6

Waves in Plasmas

In a plasma, a large variety of waves can exist. First we divide the waves under two categories:
electrostatic waves and electromagnetic waves. In the former, only electric field fluctuates while
magnetic field either static or zero. In the latter type of waves, both the electric and magnetic
fields oscillate. The waves are further divided into electron and ion waves. In electron waves,
the electrons oscillate while the ions create a uniform background. So electron waves are high
frequency waves. In ion waves, both ions and electrons oscillate. Because of the large inertia
of the ions, ion waves are low-frequency waves. The propagation of the wave depends upon the
orientation of the wave vector k relative to the background magnetic field and relative to the
fluctuating electric field [24].
The plasmas in the magnetosphere and ionosphere are dynamic and unstable. Consequently
electromagnetic and electrostatic waves of different kinds are observed. Some of them have large
amplitudes and cannot be described by the linear process. Non-linear turbulent process may
be involved.

1.6.1

Electrostatic Modes

Here we shall discuss some fundamental electrostatic linear modes by considering different
conditions under which these waves can exist.
Langmuir Wave
If a group of electrons is suddenly displaced in a plasma, an electric field is set up such that it
tends to pull them back to their equilibrium positions. Owing to their high mobility, they do
not stop at their equilibrium positions. Instead, they overshoot and hence an oscillatory motion
is set up. In a cold plasma, these oscillations do not propagate. In the presence of significant
thermal energies, these oscillations spread to other regions in the plasma medium. These are
electrostatic waves in which electrons are mobile while ions remain fixed in their positions. These
are, therefore, high frequency waves. These waves can propagate in an unmagnetized plasma
or in a direction parallel to the ambient magnetic field. These oscillations involve interchange
of the energy between the electric field and the kinetic energy of the particle motion. There is

11

no magnetic field energy associated with the oscillations because there is no net current in the
plasma due to these oscillations [8].
Ion Acoustic Wave
There are no separate ion-langmuir waves such as = pi . However, if the electrons are
warm (Te >> Ti ) an electrostatic wave in which ions do play a major role is found at lower
frequencies. Since these are low-frequency oscillations, both electrons and ions are mobile. The
electron pressure provides the restoring force, and the ion mass provides the inertial effect.
These are also called ion-sound waves because all wavelengths propagate at the same speed,
the ion-acoustic speed (KTe /Mi ). This is in contrast to the plasma oscillations which have the
same frequency for all wavelengths. The geometry for this wave is given by: k  B or B = 0
Sound waves in ordinary fluids require collisions to transmit energy. In the case of tenuous
plasma where collisions are rare, it would seem that sound waves cannot exist in plasmas. However, this conclusion is incorrect because plasma particles can still interact (transmit vibrations)
with each other by means of their charge, which gives a long-range electrostatic force [9].
Dust Acoustic Wave
In electrostatic wave, dust particles play a major role. Such type of waves have very low
frequency because dust particles are heavy mass particles having mass ten thousand times than
that of ions. Electrons and ions provide the restoring force while the dust particles provide the
inertia effect. Phase velocity is greater than dust and ions thermal speed and less than electrons
thermal velocities [8].

1.6.2

Electromagnetic Modes

We consider the propagation of electromagnetic waves when a magnetic field is present. We

treat the case of perpendicular propagation i.e., k B . If we take transverse waves, with
k E1 , there are still two choices: E1 can be parallel to B or perpendicular to B [45].

12

Ordinary Wave, E1  B
The wave, with E1  B , is called the ordinary wave. The ordinary wave is not effected by the
magnetic field. The phase velocity of the O-mode is always greater than the velocity of light
while the group velocity cannot exceed the velocity of light. Plasma waves with large kVth are
highly damped. The electromagnetic waves become ordinary light waves at large kc and are
not damped by the presence of the plasma in this limit.
The ordinary wave exhibits a phenomenon called cutoff. This phenomenon has an important
application in short wave radio communication via ionosphere. The ionosphere is a plasma
blancket around the earth at an altitude of 60km-500km and is due to the ionization of air
molecules by UV radiation from the sun. Its density varies wth the altitude. So when a radio
signal reaches an altitude where the plasma density is high enough to match pe with , it
is reflected making it possible to transmit signals around the earth. On the other hand to
communicate with outer space, it is necessary to send signals with frequency higher enough to
exceed the maximum value of pe in the ionosphere.
Extraordinary Wave, E1 B
If E1 is perpendicular to B , the electron motion will be effected by B and the dispersion
relation will be changed. Furthermore, the wave with E1 B tend to be elliptically polarized
instead of the plane polarized. This means when such a wave propagates into a plasma, it develops a component Ex along k, thus becoming partly longitudnal and partly transverse. To treat
this mode properly E1 to have both of its components i.e., E1 = E1 (Ex , Ey ). At resonance, the
extraordinary wave losesite electromagnetic character and becomes an electrostatic oscillation.

1.6.3

Layout of Thesis

The dust grain is assumed to a part of the plasma species and its effect is studied for langmuir
wave, dust ion acoustic and dust acoustic waves by using Maxwellian, Kappa and (r,q) distributions. In next (second) chapter, the Kinetic model and the theory of waves in hot plasma is
reviewed. Then we have discussed about the Vlasov equation and Lorentzian distribution. The
next chapter consists of mathematical model adopted for Maxwellian and non-Maxwellian type

13

of distribution for the plasma and in the last and final chapter both graphical and analytical
results are compared and discussed in detail.

14