On charged photons in unmagnetized dusty plasma instabilities

Abstract

Motivated by the expanding interest in complex plasmas, we discuss the equivalent photon charge in dusty electron-ion plasmas. Particularly, we investigate the dusty plasma response in terms of the electron density perturbation driven by electromagnetic waves. The resulting polarization of this plasma medium caused by the photon ponderomotive force of the electromagnetic radiation pressure gives rise to an effective photon electric charge. We determine the acquired photon charge in terms of the involved characteristic parameters. More precisely, here we derive an explicit expression of the photon charge which is found to depend strongly on the free electron density and the photon frequency. Such a photonic charge is relevant for dealing with the photon–plasma couplings in most plasma mediums, namely of the early Universe.