PARAMETRIC DECAY IN A FINITE WIDTH PUMP, INCLUDING EFFECTS OF 3-DIMENSIONAL GEOMETRY AND INHOMOGENEITY

The effects of two- and three-dimensional geometry are described for parametric decay of a finite width pump in an inhomogeneous medium. The analysis in three dimensions focuses on the geometry appropriate to decay in a lower hybrid resonance cone. The time asymptotic behavior of two- and three-dimensional interactions (space aysmptotic behavior of steady-state interactions) is described in terms of the growing normal modes of equivalent one-dimensional equations. Numerical solutions are given for growth rates and thresholds in a pump with a Gaussian profile in a one-dimensional inhomogeneous medium. © 1978 American Institute of Physics.