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The thermal self-focusing of a wave beam in an underdense plasma. Part 1. The wave spectrum

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2009

M. J. Giles
Affiliation:
School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, The University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QH

Abstract

The present series of papers is concerned with the problem of the thermal selffocusing of an electromagnetic wave in an underdense plasma which is examined within the context of ionospheric modification by high-power radio waves. We formulate this problem as a coherent four-wave interaction between a pump wave, Stokes side-band waves and a thermally driven density perturbation. Our treatment assumes that the heating of the electrons in the interference pattern of the pump and side-band waves is in equilibrium with longitudinal heat conduction and energy transfer to the ions and, in addition, that the density perturbation is subject to decay on account of longitudinal ambipolar diffusion, ambient plasma drift motion, recombination and the stabilizing influence of perturbations to the electrical conductivity.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

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