DIELECTRIC PERMEABILITY OF A MIRROR-TRAPPED PLASMA

Analytical expressions for the wave permeability tensor are derived fo r a two-dimensional plasma model of a straight axisymmetric mirror tra p. The dielectric tensor components are found through a solution of th e Vlasov equation, using the theory of Jacobian elliptic functions. Th e bounce-resonance effect of trapped particles on wave dissipation is analysed. It is shown that collisionless wave dissipation in the plasm a with a mirror-trap configuration of a magnetic held can differ essen tially from Landau damping in a plasma with straight uniform magnetic field lines. This dielectric tensor can be used in numerical calculati ons of Alfven and ion cyclotron heating of mirror-trap plasmas.