Abstract
In the ion cyclotron range of frequencies, electromagnetic surface waves are physically relevant for wave–filament interactions, parasitic edge losses and sheath–plasma waves. They are also important numerically, where non-physical surface waves may occur as side effects of slab-geometry approximations. We give new, completely general, mathematical techniques to construct dispersion relations for electromagnetic surface waves between any two media, isotropic or anisotropic, and first-order corrections for when the material interface is steep but continuous. We discuss numerical issues (localized non-convergence, undesired power generation) that arise in numerical calculations due to the presence of surface waves.
Highlights
Electromagnetic surface waves are electromagnetic waves that propagate along an interface between different media
A common reason to introduce this density jump is the desire to avoid numerical issues associated with the numerical resolution of the lower hybrid resonance, such as those described by Nicolopoulos, Campos-Pinto & Després (2019)
We focused on the case of steep density gradients, which is the case most relevant for ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF), but the techniques developed in this work are not limited to that case
Summary
Electromagnetic surface waves are electromagnetic waves that propagate along an interface (surface) between different media. Their defining feature is that they are localized near the interface because they are evanescent in both directions normal to the interface They were initially studied in isotropic media, where Epstein (1954) concluded they can only exist if the electric permittivity changes sign at the material interface. A common reason to introduce this density jump is the desire to avoid numerical issues associated with the numerical resolution of the lower hybrid resonance, such as those described by Nicolopoulos, Campos-Pinto & Després (2019) In such calculations, much of edge plasma density gradient is replaced by a single density jump, on which numerical surface waves often occur.
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