• DOI:10.1063/1.5003931
• Corpus ID: 118864329

Mode conversion in cold low-density plasma with a sheared magnetic field

@article{Dodin2017ModeCI,
  title={Mode conversion in cold low-density plasma with a sheared magnetic field},
  author={I. Y. Dodin and D. E. Ruiz and Shin Kubo},
  journal={Physics of Plasmas},
  year={2017},
  volume={24},
  pages={122116}
}

• I. Dodin, D. E. Ruiz, S. Kubo
• Published 8 September 2017
• Physics
• Physics of Plasmas

A theory is proposed that describes mutual conversion of two electromagnetic modes in cold low-density plasma, specifically, in the high-frequency limit where the ion response is negligible. In contrast to the classic (Landau–Zener-type) theory of mode conversion, the region of resonant coupling in low-density plasma is not necessarily narrow, so the coupling matrix cannot be approximated with its first-order Taylor expansion; also, the initial conditions are set up differently. For the case of strong magnetic shear, a simple method is identified for preparing a two-mode wave such that it transforms into a single-mode wave upon entering high-density plasma. The theory can be used for reduced modeling of wave-power input in fusion plasmas. In particular, applications are envisioned in stellarator research, where the mutual conversion of two electromagnetic modes near the plasma edge is a known issue.