Average properties of the dielectric constant

Abstract

The average dielectric constant of a cold collisionless plasma having small electron density variations was developed. It was found that the dielectric constant depends on the method used to find its value and the assumed statistical constants, e.g. correlation coefficients, In two of the three methods used in this work the dielectric constant was found to be complex ; hence, this indicates that loss of energy in a lossless medium is present due to scattering mechanisms alone.