Linear amplitude oscillation of a whistler wave excited by high power microwaves

Abstract

Large‐amplitude whistler waves launched from an open‐waveguide antenna are found to exhibit amplitude oscillation as if due to trapped‐particle effects. However, the possibility of such nonlinear effects has been excluded by propagation measurements of the small‐amplitude test wave. Two‐dimensional ray tracing has revealed that the amplitude oscillation observed along lines of force is closely related to snakelike motions of whistlers in an inhomogeneous plasma. The ray trajectory is calculated in a simple geometry, and the results are in good agreement with the experimental observations.