Wave dispersion in a counterstreaming, relativistic thermal, magnetized, electron-positron plasma

Abstract

The dispersion equation is analyzed for waves in a strongly magnetized, electron-positron plasma in which counterstreaming electrons and positrons have a relativistic thermal distribution in their respective rest frames, for propagation parallel to the magnetic field. We derive the response tensor for the medium, demonstrate the dispersion curves for different temperatures, and discuss the differences from the cold-plasma case. Application to the case of pulsar magnetospheres is discussed.