Analysis of electromagnetic wave propagation with resonance effect in collision-free magnetized plasma

Abstract

In an inhomogeneous collision-free (lossless) magnetized plasma, there is resonance where the refractive index becomes infinite. Previously, the multilayered method by matrix multiplication has been used for the analysis of electromagnetic wave propagation in an aniso-tropic inhomogeneous medium. In the case of collision-free magnetized plasma, solution of the wave equation is unstable at the resonance point because the wave equation exhibits singularity. In order to rectify this problem, the inhomogeneous medium containing resonance is divided into thin layered media. At each layer, the analytical solution of the electromagnetic field is derived by an integral equation. The solutions are connected by way of the boundary condition in this integral approximation method. In the present paper, the effectiveness of the integral approximation method in an anisotropic inhomogeneous medium is discussed. Also, this computational method is applied to the problem of mode conversion from the Z mode to the L-O mode in regard to the electromagnetic wave generated in space and to resolution of the mechanism of the electromagnetic energy absorption at resonance. New knowledge is therefore obtained. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 1, 88(10): 55–66, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecja.10198