Momentum-space diffusion due to resonant wave–wave scattering of electromagnetic and electrostatic waves in a relativistic magnetized plasma

Abstract

The momentum-space diffusion equation and the kinetic wave equation for resonant wave–wave scattering of electromagnetic and electrostatic waves in a relativistic magnetized plasma are derived from the relativistic Vlasov–Maxwell equations by perturbation theory. The p-dependent diffusion coefficient and the nonlinear wave—wave coupling coefficient are given in terms of third-order tensors which are amenable to analysis. The transport equations describing energy and momentum transfer between waves and particles are obtained by momentum-space integration of the momentum-space diffusion equation, and are expressed in terms of the nonlinear wave—wave coupling coefficient in the kinetic wave equation. The conservation laws for the total energy and momentum densities of waves and particles are verified from the kinetic wave equation and the transport equations. These equations are very useful for the theoretical analysis of transport phenomena or the acceleration and generation of high-energy or relativistic particles caused by quasi-linear and resonant wave—wave scattering processes.