DISPERSION RELATIONS FOR QUASI-STATIC WAVES ON MOVING FINITE CROSS-SECTION PLASMAS,
Abstract
A stationary plasma in the presence of a magnetic field may be represented by an equivalent dielectric tensor. Within the quasistatic approximation, the dielectric tensor leads directly to the dispersion relation for waves on a bounded plasma. The equivalent dielectric tensor of a moving plasma, valid within the quasi-static approximation, is found by a Lorentz transformation of the dielectric tensor from a reference frame in which the plasma is at rest to one in which the laboratory is at rest. The range of validity of the dielectric tensor is investigated, and the relation between this tensor and the equivalent dielectric tensor found from Maxwell's curl equation is determined. An infinite number of moving plasma streams with a Maxwellian velocity distribution are summed to obtain the dielectric tensor of a finite-temperature plasma. Within the quasi-static approximation, the dispersion equation is then determined for a bounded, finite-temperature plasma, in the presence of a magnetic field. The result is shown to reduce to the dispersion relation for a cold plasma in the limit as the temperature goes to zero. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 14, 1962
- Accession Number
- AD0420436
Entities
People
- A. J. Lichtenberg
Organizations
- University of California, Berkeley