ANALYSIS OF THE EVOLUTION OF PERTURBATIONS IN A MAGNETIZED COLLISIONLESS PLASMA WITH AN INTEGRAL-EQUATION TECHNIQUE

A technique recently proposed to study the classical problem of the ev olution of small perturbations in a collisionless unmagnetized plasma is extended to a magnetized plasma. A time-convolutive integral equati on for the plasma density is obtained from the Vlasov equation for a h omogeneous plasma in a uniform, stationary magnetic field. The equatio n can be solved by means of simple numerical algorithms and, in some c ases, analytical solutions can be obtained. The procedure proves to be analytically simpler than the classical one and is more convenient fr om a numerical point of view. Techniques of solution are presented and analytical and numerical results for electrostatic perturbations are discussed.