PROPAGATION AND PLASMA-HEATING OF THE LOWER HYBRID WAVE IN THE NONUNIFORM DENSITY PLASMA

A particle simulation model which treats the wave excitation and propagation in nonuniform density by an external source is applied to the study of the behavior of lower hybrid wave heating. The observed values of the perpendicular wavenumber agree well with those calculated from the WKB approximation. In the case of the large wave amplitude, the following features are observed for the increase in the ion and electron kinetic energies. Ion perpendicular energy distributions are observed to have the components of the high energy tail. These phenomena are explained in terms of the mechanism of trapping and stochastic acceleration of a charged particle in the monochromatic and nearly perpendicular propagating wave with a frequency near cyclotron harmonic. A strong increase in the parallel kinetic energy of the electron is observed near the plasma surface. This is mainly due to the trapped electrons. © 1979 American Institute of Physics.