Thermal Field Theory in a wire: Applications of Thermal Field Theory methods to the propagation of photons in a one-dimensional plasma

Abstract

We apply the Thermal Field Theory (TFT) methods to study the propagation of photons in a plasma wire, that is, a system in which the electrons are confined to a one-dimensional tube or wire, but are otherwise free. We find the appropriate expression for the photon \emph{free-field} propagator in such a medium, and write down the dispersion relation in terms of the free-field propagator and the photon self-energy. The self-energy is then calculated in the one-loop approximation and the corresponding dispersion relation is determined and studied in some detail. Our work differs from previous work on this subject in that we do not adopt any specific electronic wave functions in the coordinates that are transverse to the idealized wire, or rely on particular features of the electronic structure. We treat the electrons as a free gas of particles, constrained to move in one dimension, but otherwise in a model-independent way only following the rules of TFT adapted to the situation at hand. For the appropriate conditions of the plasma the \emph{static approximation} can be employed and the dispersion relation reduces to the results obtained in previous works, but the formula that we obtain is valid under more general conditions, including those in which the static approximation is not valid. In particular, the dispersion relation has several branches, which are not revealed if the static approximation is used. The dispersion relations obtained reproduce several unique features of these systems that have been observed in recent experiments.Comment: 17 pages Revised and extended discussion of the dispersion relation