Compton rocket effect due to the action of radiation reaction force in degenerate plasma

Abstract

A closed set of fluid equations with radiation reaction force (RRF) are constructed from the moments of the appropriate single particle kinetic equation describing a relativistic degenerate (high density) electron plasma. The closure, in analogy with the Maxwellian closure for non-degenerate plasmas, is affected via a parametrized Fermi-Dirac distribution. It is shown that the degeneracy increases RRF just as will be predicted from the so-called “Compton Rocket” effect.