RAY PATHS NEAR THE ELECTRON-CYCLOTRON-RESONANCE IN COLD AND THERMAL PLASMAS

The influence of thermal effects on the ray path near and through the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) is investigated. First, the source of differences between the thermal plasma and cold plasma ray descript ions is identified. Ray paths obtained in (i) cold plasma, (ii) hot Ma xwellian plasma and (iii) weakly relativistic Maxwellian plasma are th en discussed. It is found that in the ECR region thermal effects may i nduce a substantial ray refraction, ray reflection and change of the w ave polarization. This has important implications on the propagation a nd absorption characteristics of both, the low and the high field side launched electromagnetic waves.