Dispersion characteristics of cyclotron waves in a warm plasma waveguide

An analysis of cyclotron waves in a cylindrical waveguide containing a warm plasma column is presented. In the analysis, a non linear wave equation is derived using the linearized fluid equations along with Maxwell’s equations. The general result obtained for the annular plasma column is then reduced to be used for the case where the plasma column fills the entire waveguide as well as partially filled configuration. Dispersion relations for electromagnetic and electrostatic modes are solved numerically to study the effect of electron thermal velocity on the characteristics of azimuthally symmetrical eigenmodes. The numerical studies show that the thermal motion of electrons shifts the frequencies of cyclotron plasma modes towards higher values.