Dissipative surface waves in plasma

Abstract

Debatable aspects of the theory of nonpotential surface waves propagating along the boundary of a dissipative medium with frequency dispersion are discussed. On the basis of the known theoretical results and theoretical analysis carried out in this work, a theory of surface waves that is valid for any dissipation of the perturbation energy in the medium is developed. It is shown that, if dissipation is sufficiently strong, there can be surface waves the physical nature and dispersion law of which differ radically from those of ordinary surface waves. The damping rate of such waves is low even at large dissipation in the medium, and their group and phase velocities exceed the speed of light. In particular, surface waves on the interface between vacuum and cold collisional electron plasma are considered. The existence of such surface waves for different media of laboratory and natural origin is discussed.