Dipole Resonances of a Plasma in a Magnetic Field

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Abstract
It has been known for many years that cylindrical plasma columns subjected to a transverse electric field exhibit dipole resonance effects. Very little attention has been given to the modification of this phenomenon by a magnetic field. This paper gives a theory for the splitting of the resonance that occurs under these conditions and describes experiments carried out using mercury-vapor discharges at a pressure of about 1 μ Hg to verify the theoretical prediction. Good agreement was obtained for magnetic fields giving an electron cyclotron frequency up to about half the geometric mean-resonant frequency, and it is suggested that the effect provides a useful diagnostic technique for the measurement of mean electron density and magnetic field in discharge columns.