Radiation reaction effects in relativistic plasmas*

In the past decades, there has been a steady increase in interest in intense field plasma physics.

This has been motivated by the fast technological development of the laser facilities. Both classical

and quantum radiation reaction effects on the dynamics of plasma are of interest. In DI Piazza Phys.Rev.Lett 054802, one found

that the quantum radiation reaction mechanism leads to a heating effect in the background plasma.  In the case of the classical radiation reaction, it is found in Naseri Phys.Rev.E 107 054802 that the temperature of the background plasma drops.

In Naseri Phys.Rev.E 107 054802, the evolution of electrostatic plasma waves has been studied, using the relativistic Vlasov equation

extended by the Landau-Lifshitz radiation reaction. Here, the model includes the

back-reaction effect due to the emission of single-particle Larmor radiation. In particular, the Langmuir

wave damping is calculated as a function of wavenumber, initial temperature, and initial electric field

amplitude. Moreover, the background distribution function loses energy in the process, and the cooling

rate as a function of initial temperature and initial wave amplitude were calculated.

Finally, it is found that the relative contribution to the energy loss associated with background

cooling decreases slowly with the initial wave amplitude. A further study to find the transition regime

from classical to quantum radiation reactions is planned.