Collisionless Damping of Fast and Ion?Cyclotron Surface Waves

Abstract

A recently developed general kinetic theory of surface waves is used to calculate the collisionless damping of low frequency fast and ion-cyclotron surface waves on a magnetised plasma-vacuum interface. In particular, the possibility of Cherenkov (Landau and transit-time magnetic) absorption by electrons is accounted for, assuming a bi-Maxwellian distribution of electrons in velocity space. It is shown that in general the surface waves are damped via mode conversion to a short-wavelength mode, such as the kinetic Alfven wave, which is subsequently Landau absorbed within the plasma. For high temperatures this short-wavelength mode can also be radiated into the plasma without being completely absorbed. It is also shown that the related ion-sound surface wave mode and instability identified by Alexandrov et al. (1984) are unphysical, and are the result of neglecting the gas pressure in the first-order magnetic field boundary condition.