Electrostatic whistler mode conversion at plasma resonance

The mode conversion of an electrostatic whistler wave into a Bohm-Gross mode at plasma resonance is analysed for a magnetized plasma with a longitudinal density gradient (i.e. n₀ X B = 0). It is found that a whistler incident upon plasma resonance from inside the plasma converts, without producing a reflected wave, into a short-wavelength Bohm-Gross mode that carries energy down the density gradient away from resonance. The detailed structure of the electric field near the resonance is found analytically. It is shown that the production of the Bohm-Gross wave by mode conversion can be described by a model of plasma resonance driven by a k = 0 electric field (i.e. the capacitor plate model). The relation between the driver amplitude and the amplitude of the incident whistler is derived.