Anisotropic cold plasma modes in chiral vector Maxwell-Carroll-Field-Jackiw electrodynamics

Abstract

In this work, we study the propagation and absorption of plasma waves in the context of the Maxwell-Carroll-Field-Jackiw (MCFJ) electrodynamics with a purely spacelike background playing the role of the anomalous Hall conductivity, concerning the anomalous Hall current. Such a current is also found in an axion field which increases linearly with a space coordinate. The Maxwell equations are rewritten for a cold, uniform, and collisionless fluid plasma model, allowing us to determine the new refractive indices and propagating modes. The analysis begins for propagation along the magnetic axis, examined in the cases of chiral vectors parallel and orthogonal to the magnetic field. Two distinct refractive indices (associated with right-handed circularly polarized [RCP] and left-handed circularly polarized [LCP] waves) are obtained and the associated propagation and absorption zones are determined. The low-frequency regime is discussed and we obtain RCP and LCP helicons. We scrutinize optical effects, such as birefringence and dichroism, and observe rotatory power sign reversion, a property of chiral MCFJ plasmas. We also examine the case of transversal propagation in the direction orthogonal to the magnetic field, providing much more involved results.