title: Wave excitation in inhomogeneous dielectric media.
abstract: The equation describing the propagation of a mode driven by external currents in an inhomogeneous dielectric is derived from the principle of the conservation of wave energy density and wave momentum density. The wave amplitude in steady state is obtained in terms of a simple spatial integration of the driving current. The contribution from the spatial derivative of the dielectric response is found to be important. The analytical predictions are verified through comparison with deltaf particle-in-cell computations of electron Bernstein wave propagation, thus showing applicability to kinetic systems.
authors.affiliation: Center for Integrated Plasma Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA. cary@colorado.edu
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Cary
authors.forename: Nong
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Xiang