Electrodynamics of a non-relativistic, non-equilibrium plasma

Abstract

A non-equilibrium plasma was studied using classical electrodynamic field theory. Non-linear interaction terms contribute to a finite lifetime for the dressed electrodynamic field. The lifetime exhibits a $\sim n^{-1} T_{e}^{3/2} T_{i}^{-2}T_{r}^{1/2}$ dependence, where $n$ is the number density, $T_{e}$ is the electron temperature, $T_{i}$ is the ion temperature, and $T_{r}$ is the temperature of the radiation field. The resulting width of the plasmon resonance is shown to decrease as equilibrium is approached. Dynamic screening leads to opaqueness of the plasma for low energy electromagnetic radiation. This leads to a quadratic correction to the quartic Stefan-Boltzmann law. We also briefly discuss the effect of dynamic screening on fusion rates. Solitonic solutions to our non-linear wave equation allow localization of positive charges, which may enhance fusion rates.