Velocity distribution functions which feature extended tails with power-law dependence have been consistently observed in the solar wind environment and are frequently modelled by the so-called Kappa distributions. Different forms of Kappa distributions are commonly employed in analytical studies, and despite their similarities, they can produce different effects on the dispersion properties that occur in a plasma. We consider two different and widely used forms of Kappa distributions, in both isotropic and anisotropic cases, and systematically discuss their effects on the dispersion relations of Langmuir and ion-sound waves. It is shown that in the case of Langmuir waves, one of the forms leads to the expression for the Bohm–Gross dispersion relation, valid for plasmas with Maxwellian velocity distributions, while the other form of Kappa functions leads to a dispersion relation with significant difference regarding the Maxwellian case, particularly in the case of small values of the kappa index. For ion-sound waves, the dispersion relations obtained with the different forms of Kappa distributions are different among themselves, and also different from the Maxwellian case, with difference which increases for small values of the kappa index. Some results obtained from numerical solution of the dispersion relations are presented, which illustrate the magnitude of the perceived differences. Some results obtained with relativistic particle-in-cell simulations are also presented, which allow the comparison between the dispersion relations obtained from analytical calculations and the frequency–wavelength distribution of wave fluctuations which are observed in numerical experiments.
DISPERSION RELATION OF GENERAL MAGNETICALLY CONFINED WEAK RELATIVISTIC PLASMAS