LINEAR AND NONLINEAR MODES IN NONRELATIVISTIC ELECTRON-POSITRON PLASMAS

A comprehensive two-fluid model is developed for collective modes in a nonrelativistic electron-positron plasma. Longitudinal and transverse electrostatic and electromagnetic modes, both in the presence and absence of a magnetic field, are studied. Wave properties are discussed in terms of dispersion relations, wave normal surfaces, and cylindrical mirror analyzer clemmow-Mullaly-Allis diagrams. The results are extended to include the two-stream instability and ion acoustic solitary waves. For the two-stream instability, a similar result is found as in the electron-ion plasma. For ion acoustic solitary waves, only subsonic solutions are found to exist. Furthermore, their width is proportional to their amplitude, unlike the electron-ion plasma case, where the speed is proportional to the amplitude. © 1995 The American Physical Society.