Optical mixing in a magnetized plasma

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Abstract
The generation of enhanced electrostatic oscillations in a plasma in a spatially homogeneous magnetic field by two high frequency electromagnetic waves with frequencies omega 1, omega 2 is examined. These enhanced fluctuations may possibly be detected in a light scattering experiment. Starting from a kinetic equation, an expression is found for the stimulated scattering cross section for modes propagating orthogonally to the magnetic field. Resonances at the upper hybrid frequency and harmonics of the cyclotron frequency mean that, if omega 1- omega 2 is tuned to one of these frequencies, significant enhancement may be expected. The stimulated and thermal scattering cross sections are then compared in the long wave-length limit. It is found that the scattering intensity due to the stimulated cyclotron harmonic modes falls off more rapidly with increasing harmonic number than the scattering intensity in the thermal case. Such a scattering experiment might also be of use as a diagnostic tool in magnetic field measurements in hot laboratory plasmas.