SURFACE WAVES ALONG AN AXIALLY MAGNETIZED PLASMA COLUMN: I. SYMMETRIC MODES

Abstract

The characteristics of surface waves excited by an axially oriented point electric dipole situated along the axis of an infinitely long; and axially magnetized column of uniform cold plasma are investigated. The surface waves are found to be slow waves and exist only below the upper hybrid resonant frequency. In the gyromagnetic and plasma resonance regions, the existence of an infinite number of discrete modes is noted. The dispersion curves are presented for different values of the strength of the applied magnetic field and the column radius. Also, the power transported by the surface waves is evaluated and is found to become infinite in the two resonance frequency regions. A technique for the removal of this singularity in the surface wave power is indicated.