RAY ANALYSIS OF ELECTRON-CYCLOTRON WAVES PROPAGATING IN DISSIPATIVE THERMAL PLASMAS

The ray tracing in a weakly dissipative thermal plasma, in particular, near the electron cyclotron resonance, is investigated. Numerical res ults obtained by using a self-consistent new ray tracing approach wher e the local dispersion relation is considered as a complex quantity ar e presented. It is found that the combined thermal and dissipative eff ects may induce substantial ray refraction or ray reflection. The obta ined power deposition profiles differ completely from those determined within the standard approach where the ray paths are described by the cold plasma dispersion relation. The presented results may have impor tant implications on the EC plasma heating and current drive, in parti cular, in hot reactor-like plasmas.