Radiative Processes in Astrophysical and Laboratory Plasmas

Abstract

Radiative processes are among the most fundamental ones in plasma physics. In general, they can be quite complicated and require a full kinetic description. Even though a simplified treatment is justified in certain cases, there are situations in astrophysical and laboratory plasmas when the full description leads to qualitatively and quantitatively different results. In this thesis, we investigate several such situations. Specifically, we demonstrate that kinetic effects, such as the recoil and the asymmetric resistivity current drive, in inverse Bremsstrahlung absorption lead to an increased electric current density; that kinetic effects modify the generation of spontaneous magnetic fields in rotating and radiating astrophysical plasmas; and that plasma dispersion and collective effects modify the equilibrium blackbody Planck’s spectrum of the radiation inside plasma, which has implications for the spectrum of cosmic microwave background radiation.