Beltrami-Bernoulli Equilibria in Plasmas with Degenerate Electrons

Abstract

A new class of Double Beltrami-Bernoulli equilibria, sustained by electron degeneracy pressure, are investigated. It is shown that due to electron degeneracy, a nontrivial Beltrami-Bernoulli equilibrium state is possible even for a zero temperature plasma. These states are, conceptually, studied to show the existence of new energy transformation pathways converting, for instance, the degeneracy energy into fluid kinetic energy. Such states may be of relevance to compact astrophysical objects like white dwarfs, neutron stars etc.