Astrophysics (Index) | About |
A plasmon is a quasiparticle that is a quantum of plasma vibration. Plasmons occur in plasma and a specific type, a surface plasmon, occurs on the surface of solid metal (e.g., copper, tin). One type of Plasmon decay (the cessation of a plasmon, "repackaging" its energy) leads to a pair of neutrinos, which is a cooling mechanism (method of exporting energy) theorized to occur in some giant stars, and in white dwarfs and some layers of neutron stars. White dwarfs and the neutron star layers have degenerate electrons that roam freely and function as a very dense plasma.