On the collisional effects on low frequency electromagnetic wave propagation in plasmas

Employing a fluid-dynamical model for two-component plasmas, the plasma dielectric tensor was calculated. By using it, the collisional effects on electromagnetic waves propagating in plasmas were investigated, and the results obtained are in good agreement with those of magnetohydrodynamical approximation. It was found that the collisional effects are well described in terms of a magnetic Reynolds number appropriately defined, and that in the limit of infinitely large collisional frequency, waves in plasmas are reduced to the acoustic and electromagnetic waves.