Abstract
By employing the quantum magnetohydrodynamic-Poisson model, a general dispersion relation for low-frequency electrostatic ion-temperature-gradient (ITG) modes in a very dense Fermi plasma is derived. The growth rate is found to be higher in the presence of ion-temperature gradients and electron corrections due to quantum fluctuations. Two new ITG driven modes in the Fermi plasma are found. These ITG modes are associated with an electron density response that differs from the Boltzmann law. It is expected that newly found ITG modes can play an important role in anomalous cross-field ion energy transport in the next-generation laser-solid density plasma experiments as well as in dense astrophysical bodies (e.g., neutron stars and the interior of white dwarfs). (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.