Self-Trapping of White Light and the Redshift by Nonlinear Optical Effects in a Stellar Plasma

Abstract

Possible effects of self-trapping and redshift of incoherent light in a plasma under astronomical conditions are investigated. Nonlinear polarization of a plasma is produced either by an intensity-dependent electron density or by a nonlinearity in the electron displacement. Possibilities of self-trapping by nonlinear electronic polarization and by thermal effect in a plasma are studied. Then the redshift due to nonlinear electronic polarization and that due to forward Rayleigh scattering by thermal fluctuations are considered. Finally a sizable redshift and self-trapping of light are shown to possibly occur in a stellar plasma of high density in a large scale when the light source is bright and it is rich in ultraviolet radiation. The above mechanism suggests a novel interpretation of quasi-stellar objects. The model requires neither the cosmological distance nor relativistic velocity of recession nor large gravitational potential.