Whistler propagation in a bounded magnetoplasma†

A paradox has been pointed out by Wieder for whistlers in bounded magnetoplasmas. His work shows that, below half the electron cyclotron frequency, the wave propagation characteristics do not approach those of plane wave solutions in unbounded magneto-plasma, even when the plasma density is increased so that the wavelength is arbitrarily small compared to the plasma transverse dimensions. In this paper the apparent paradox is shown to result from the double reflection property of magnetoplasmas. Propagation characteristics in bounded plasma have been related to the unbounded case by considering plane waves doubly reflected at the plasma boundary. As a by-product, limitations for the validity of the quasistatic approximation for body waves in bounded magnetoplasmas have been established.