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This book is a study of plasma waves which are observed in the earth's magnetosphere. The emphasis is on a thorough, but concise, treatment of the necessary theory and the use of this theory to understand the manifold varieties of waves which are observed by ground-based instruments and by satellites. We restrict our treatment to waves with wavelengths short compared with the spatial scales of the background plasma in the mag netosphere. By so doing we exclude large scale magnetohydrodynamic phenomena such as ULF pulsations in the Pc2-5 ranges. The field is an active one and we cannot hope to discuss every wave phenomenon ever observed in the magnetosphere! We try instead to give a good treatment of phenomena which are well understood, and which illustrate as many different parts of the theory as possible. It is thus hoped to put the reader in a position to understand the current literature. The treatment is aimed at a beginning graduate student in the field but it is hoped that it will also be of use as a reference to established workers. A knowledge of electromagnetic theory and some elementary plasma physics is assumed. The mathematical background required in cludes a knowledge of vector calculus, linear algebra, and Fourier trans form theory encountered in standard undergraduate physics curricula. A reasonable acquaintance with the theory of functions of a complex vari able including contour integration and the residue theorem is assumed.
List of contents
I Propagation and Generation of Plasma Waves.- 1 Basic Equations.- 2 Waves in a Uniform Cold Magnetoplasma - 1. Infinite Plane Waves.- 3 Waves in a Uniform Cold Magnetoplasma - 2. Rays and Wave Packets.- 4 Propagation of Electromagnetic Waves in a Non-Uniform Cold Magnetoplasma.- 5 Waves in a Uniform Warm Magnetoplasma.- 6 Waves in a Hot Plasma - 1. General Features.- 7 Waves in a Hot Plasma - 2. Equilibrium and Non-Equilibrium Distributions.- 8 The Effect of Wave Fields on Energetic Particles.- II Applications of the Theory to Plasma Wave Observations.- 9 Magnetospheric Plasmas.- 10 Waves in the Plasmasphere - 1. Whistler Observations and Basic Theory.- 11 Waves in the Plasmasphere - 2. Details of Whistler Propagation.- 12 Waves in the Plasmasphere - 3. Ion Cyclotron Whistlers.- 13 Waves in the Plasmasphere - 4. Doppler Shifted Cyclotron Resonance of Electrons with Whistlers.- 14 Waves in the Auroral Region.- 15 Some Final Words.- A The Essence of Cartesian Tensors.- B Some Mathematical Results.- B.1 Properties of Bessel Functions and Related Results.- B.2 The Plasma Dispersion Function.- C Properties of the Earth's Dipole Field.- D Definition of Symbols.
