Suppression of two stream instability in relativistic electron-ion plasmas

TL;DR

This study explores how relativistic velocities in electron-ion plasmas suppress two-stream instabilities, revealing key effects of plasma parameters and mass ratios relevant to high-energy plasma physics.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of relativistic suppression of two-stream instability, including new scaling laws and the impact of realistic ion-electron mass ratios.

Findings

Suppression of growth rate persists even with neutralizing ion background.

Relativistic electrons at higher plasma frequencies further squeeze the instability parameter space.

Realistic ion-electron mass ratios significantly modify suppression effects.

Abstract

This paper investigates the suppression of two stream instabilities in electron ion plasmas when the individual species attain relativistic velocities. This suppression of the growth rate of two stream instability is consistent even when the ions form a neutralizing background. It is found that the parameter space of the growth rate reasonably squeezes for relativistic electrons at higher plasma frequencies. We further report the suppression of the growth rate of the said instability as the ion electron mass ratio reaches the realistic limit. Our results have implications for high-energy plasmas, laser-plasma interactions, and relativistic particle beam physics, providing insights into the complex interplay of linear and nonlinear processes governing the two-stream instability. Our unified four-regime analysis extends previous understanding of how realistic mass ratios fundamentally modify relativistic suppression effects, providing essential scaling laws for high-energy plasma applications.