Spatial dispersion and absorption of waves in bounded low-density plasma

Reflection, absorption and emission of electromagnetic waves by a hot inhomogeneous plasma cylinder are studied. It is shown that the inhomogeneity has a very large effect on the condition for the appearance of reflection maxima, causing these maxima to be much more widely spaced on a frequency scale than those in a homogeneous plasma. An attempt is made to explain observed spontaneous emission of radiation in the microwave region. Landau damping in inhomogeneous plasma is studied by means of a finite one-dimensional model. It is found that due to the coupling of the sinusoidal standing waves even low-order modes may suffer considerable damping in strong contrast to the case when the plasma is homogeneous.