Linear pair-creation damping of high-frequency plasma oscillation

Abstract

We have studied the linear dispersion relation for Langmuir waves in plasmas of very high density, based on the Dirac–Heisenberg–Wigner formalism. The vacuum contribution to the physical observables leads to ultraviolet divergences, which are removed by a charge renormalization. The remaining vacuum contribution is small and is in agreement with previously derived expressions for the time-dependent vacuum polarization. The main new feature of the theory is a damping mechanism similar to Landau damping, but where the plasmon energy gives rise to creation of electron–positron pairs. The dependence of the damping rate (pair-creation rate) on the wavenumber, temperature, and density is analyzed. Finally, the analytical results of linearized theory are compared with numerical solutions.