DENSITY FLUCTUATIONS IN A PLASMA IN A MAGNETIC FIELD, WITH APPLICATIONS TO THE IONOSPHERE. Scientific Report No. 1
Technical Report
·
OSTI ID:4043708
General expressions are developed for the fluctuation in density of electrons, ions, and charge in a plasma in thermal equilibrium in an external magnetic field taking only Coulomb interaction into account. The spectral distribution of the spatial Fourier components of the fluctuations is derived from basic principles. The fluctuations in electron density are discussed in some detail, and spectra are computed under conditions which are thought to prevail in the outer ionosphere. Frequency spectra of general validity are computed for electron-density fiuctuations along the magnetic field. Examples show that the frequency spectra under ionospheric conditions are not much influenced by the magnetic field except for density fluctuations fairly close to perpendicularity to the magnetic field. Applications to incoherent backscattering are discussed, and under suitable conditions, backscatter techniques are shown to give valuable information about electron density, temperature, and constituents of the ionosphere. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Stanford Univ., Calif. Radioscience Lab.
- NSA Number:
- NSA-15-022994
- OSTI ID:
- 4043708
- Report Number(s):
- AFCRL-TN-60-1164; AD-248447
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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