Excitation of waves in an inhomogeneous plasma

Abstract

The evolution of initial perturbations in a spatially inhomogeneous cold electron plasma in the absence of an external magnetic field is considered. The excitation of both continuous-spectrum bulk plasma waves and surface plasma waves with a discrete frequency spectrum is investigated. Analytic solutions are obtained in the long-wavelength limit, and the excitation of waves of arbitrary length is analyzed numerically. The local, integral, and spatial spectra are calculated, as well as the field structures and dispersion properties of waves in waveguides filled nonuniformly with a plasma. It is shown that, in a plasma with a smooth boundary, there also exist surface waves with a discrete spectrum (although with somewhat different properties as compared to those in a plasma with a sharp boundary), which are excited together with continuous-spectrum bulk waves during the evolution of the initial perturbation.