title: Helicons in Unbounded Plasmas.
abstract: Helicons are whistler modes with helical phase fronts. They have been studied in solid state plasmas and in discharge tubes where boundaries and nonuniformities are ever present. The present work shows that helicons also exist in unbounded and uniform plasmas, thereby bridging the fields of laboratory and space plasma physics. First measurements of helicon field lines in three dimensional space are presented. Helicons with negative and positive mode numbers can propagate with equal amplitudes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1547, USA.
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Stenzel
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1547, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Urrutia