Fast and slow magnetosonic waves in two-dimensional spin-1/2 quantum plasma

Using the spin-1/2 resistive quantum magnetohydrodynamics model, linear and nonlinear relations for slow and fast magnetosonic modes are derived. Spin effects are incorporated via spin force and macroscopic spin magnetization current. The plasma resistivity is shown to play a role of dissipation in the system. With the aid of tanh method the traveling wave solution of Kadomstev-Petviashvili-Burgers is obtained. The solution shows a general shock wave profile superposed by a perturbative solitary-wave contribution. The dynamics of fast and slow magnetosonic shock and soliton, respectively, in the presence and absence of dissipation is investigated with respect to electron spin magnetization, quantum diffraction, and plasma statistic. It is found that results obtained from the spin quantum plasmas differ significantly from the nonspin quantum plasmas. The relevance of the present work to dense astrophysical plasmas such as pulsar magnetosphere is pointed out. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3493632]