ISSN:
1089-7674
Source:
AIP Digital Archive
Topics:
Physics
Notes:
Microwave transmission spectra measured on the Tore Supra tokamak [Equipe Tore Supra, in Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research, Nice, 1988 (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1989), Vol. 1, p. 9] exhibit a systematic enhancement of the transmitted power at frequencies close to the electron gyrofrequency, often well beyond the corresponding level detected in vacuum. In order to explain such observations, the problem of electromagnetic wave propagation near the electron cyclotron frequency in a hot magnetized plasma is investigated in the framework of geometrical optics. The simple case of the ordinary mode injected vertically is studied by taking the finite plasma temperature and relativistic corrections to the dispersion relation into account, in contrast with the more familiar cold plasma ray-tracing approach. It is found that the ray trajectories are strongly affected by such effects in the anomalous dispersion region close to the cyclotron resonance. As a consequence of this analysis, it is shown that the local enhancement of the transmitted power observed experimentally can be explained as a focusing phenomenon related to hot-plasma corrections to the wave refractive index. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.871438
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