Surface flute waves in plasmas. Theory and applications (Q382959)

The aim of this extremely short book of 160 pages is to introduce the reader to the properties of eigenwaves which propagate along the axis of symmetry in various cylindrical waveguides that are filled with different magnetoactive plasma inside/outside. The problems are studied with the example of transverse flute wavemodes. Special attention is made to various characteristics of the waves, the dispersion properties, the design features of the waveguides, the possible application of the dielectric coating on the inner surface of the waveguide. Detailed study is made of the damping due to various factors, e.g. collisions, resonant damping, appearance of coupled bulk mode, radiation through a narrow slote of the wall. Questions concerning the real experimental device, such as non-uniform plasma state, density inhomogeneity of the plasma, the influence of magnetic field on the frequency spectrum and the possible spatial field distribution of the waves are also investigated. Equally, the effects of the changing shape (e.g. non-circularity, changing cross section) are in the view of the research. The book is organized in six chapters. After the introduction (Chapter 1) where some generalities are mentioned on the initiative of the research of this theme and some important fields of possible -- and running -- applications of the problems are largely enumerated. In Chapter 2, the surface flute waves propagating in uniform magnetoactive plasma filled wavequides are studied. In Chapter 3, the coupled surface flute waves propagating in current-carrying plasma waveguides are studied (the linear interaction between the ordinary and extraordinary flute modes, here the distinction of \(O\) and \(X\) modes are introduced to distinguish two surface flute modes). Chapter 4 is concerned with surface flutewaves propagating in non-isotropic plasma filled waveguides (for \(X\) modes), here important model arrangements are envisaged for possible applications. In Chapter 5, surface flute waves propagating in waveguides with non-circular cross-section are studied. The last chaper is devoted to the application of surface wave propagation results. The general impression of the reviewer is that the book is an extremely rich show of the results obtained by the Kharkiv research group of Dr. V. Girka and Dr. I. Girka, but -- because of the shortness of the book -- the access to the results is formulated so much already in the middle of the details that it is not an easy task to follow them for the general reader, though an extraordinarily rich literature is offered at the end of the chapters.