NON-LINEAR INTERACTION OF A STEADY-STATE CIRCULARLY POLARIZED ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE WITH A COLD PLASMA IN A CONSTANT LONGITUDINAL MAGNETIC FIELD

The strictly relativistic, non-linear solution describing the interaction of a stationary, circularly polarized electromagnetic wave with a cold plasma in a constant longitudinal magnetic field is derived. Apart from the a priori restriction that the plasma in the wave-plasma-magnetic field system under consideration be cold, no other restriction is imposed on the range of validity of the solution. Provided the solution exists, it is thus valid for any values of the parameters. The solution allows exact study of the resonance and cut-off behaviour of wave-plasma-magnetic field systems of the kind described. The non-linear relations between the wave, plasma and field parameters can be solved numerically without approximations. Owing to the complicated nature of the equations a special case is treated which at least conveys some idea of the general relationships.