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Three‐dimensional electromagnetic wave polarizations in a plasma
Author(s) -
Dong Bao,
Yeh K. C.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
radio science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1944-799X
pISSN - 0048-6604
DOI - 10.1029/2001rs002496
Subject(s) - physics , superposition principle , polarization (electrochemistry) , transverse plane , electromagnetic radiation , transverse wave , plane wave , offset (computer science) , wave propagation , longitudinal wave , computational physics , plasma , optics , computer science , chemistry , structural engineering , quantum mechanics , engineering , programming language
It is known that electromagnetic waves propagating in a magnetized cold plasma are not necessarily purely transverse waves. The existence of a longitudinal component implies that the normal to the polarization plane is not, in general, parallel to the propagation vector. The offset angle between these two directions is computed for each characteristic wave. Our investigation shows that the offset angle can be large under certain conditions. For a wave field that is a superposition of two characteristic waves, its polarization plane wobbles in space as the field propagates while its normal precesses. Several examples are considered, computed, and given to illustrate the 3D nature of wave polarizations.