Nonlinear Instability of Circularly Polarised Waves in a Magnetised Relativistic Plasma

Abstract

An intensity dependent nonlinear dispersion relation of a circularly polarised wave in a magnetised relativistic plasma is derived using a special Lorentz transformation and then the stability criteria of the wave are investigated. From numerical estimations it is observed that electromagnetic waves, having powers much below that for the occurrence of nonlinear phenomena due to self-action effects, are unstable in a magnetised relativistic dense plasma. The effects of a strong magnetic field on the group velocity and cut-off frequency in a dense plasma are also discussed.