Open AccessScattering of magnetosonic waves in a relativistic and anisotropic magnetized plasma
Author(s) -
Moortgat Joachim,
Kuijpers Jan
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10189.x
Subject(s) - physics , magnetohydrodynamics , neutron star , scattering , magnetic field , relativistic plasma , computational physics , astrophysics , quantum electrodynamics , optics , quantum mechanics
Gravitational waves (GW) propagating through a magnetized plasma excite low‐frequency magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves. In this paper, we investigate whether these waves can produce observable radio emission at higher frequencies by scattering on an anisotropic intrinsically relativistic distribution of electrons and positrons in the force‐free wind surrounding a double neutron star binary merger. The relativistic particle distribution is assumed to be strictly along the magnetic field lines, while the magneto‐plasma streams out at a relativistic speed from the neutron stars. In the case of Compton scattering of an incident MHD wave transverse to the magnetic field, we find that the probability of scattering to both a transverse x ‐mode and a quasi‐longitudinal Langmuir‐ordinary mode is suppressed when the frequency of the incident wave is below the local relativistic gyro‐frequency, that is, when the magnetic field is very strong.