Tranverse intermediate waves in a relativistic plasma with a finite conductivity

The propagation of intermediate waves in a turbulent relativistic plasma, characterized by an effective electrical conductivity σ_eff due to microinstabilities, is studied. The process is governed by a set of diffusion-type equations. An initial magnetic perturbation of a Gaussian wave form subsequently decays owing to dissipation. For the almost-Newtonian gas and the ultra-relativistic gas, relativistic effects tend to change the polarization of the initial magnetic impulse from a linearly polarized wave to a circularly polarized wave.