Waves in cold plasmas: CMA diagram, dispersion surfaces, propagation at arbitrary angle: phase and group velocity in 3D. Resonance cones. Boundary waves. Waves in inhomogeneous plasmas: WKB method, mode conversion, ray tracing, drift waves.
ULF waves in the magnetosphere: field line resonances. Dispersive Alfven waves. Whistlers in the inner magnetosphere: observations, theory. Auroral plasma waves: auroral kilometric radiation, VLF waves. Instabilities in space plasmas.
After completed course the students should be able to:
· Describe the most common wave modes observed in space plasmas, including their observational characteristics and theoretical treatment.
· Discuss the phase and group velocity of the waves in three dimensions, applied to the waves in the near-Earth space
· Describe the phenomenon of resonance cones and their occurrence in space plasmas
· Describe observational properties of the ULF waves in the magnetosphere and discuss theoretical interpretation in terms of field line resonance
· Discuss the propagation characteristics of the whistler waves
· Describe auroral plasma waves such as auroral kilometric radiation, VLF waves
· Discuss the most common instabilities in space plasmas
EF2200 Plasma Physics, ED2210 Electromagnetic Waves in Dispersive Media, or equivalent knowledge.
Plasma Waves,D.G. Swanson, Academic Press, Inc., 1989.
Plasma Waves in the Magnetosphere,A.D.M. Walker, Springer Verlag, 1993.
Theory of Space Plasma Microinstabilities, S.P. Gary, Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Auroral Plasma Physics, G. Paschmann, S. Halland, 2002.
and selected journal papers
När kurs inte längre ges har student möjlighet att examineras under ytterligare två läsår.
Examinator beslutar, baserat på rekommendation från KTH:s handläggare av stöd till studenter med funktionsnedsättning, om eventuell anpassad examination för studenter med dokumenterad, varaktig funktionsnedsättning.
Examinator får medge annan examinationsform vid omexamination av enstaka studenter.
Final oral exam.
