Helical rays in two-dimensional resonant wave conversion

Abstract

The process of resonant wave conversion (often called linear mode conversion) has traditionally been analyzed with a spatially one-dimensional slab model, for which the rays propagate in a two-dimensional phase space. However, it has recently been shown [E. R. Tracy and A. N. Kaufman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 130402 (2003)] that multidimensional rays have a helical structure for conversion in two or more spatial dimensions (if their dispersion matrix is generic). In that case, a one-dimensional model is inadequate; a correct analysis requires two spatial dimensions and, thus, four-dimensional phase space. A cold-plasma model is introduced in this paper which exhibits ray helicity in conversion regions where the density and magnetic field gradients are significantly nonparallel. For illustration, such regions are identified in a model of the poloidal plane of a deuterium-tritium tokamak plasma. In each conversion region, characterized by a six-sector topology, rays in the sector for incident and reflected magnetosonic waves exhibit significant helicity. A detailed analytic and numerical study of helical rays in this sector is developed for a “symmetric-wedge” model.