Excitation of electron Bernstein waves by a gyrating relativistic electron beam in a plasma slab

A nonlocal theory of excitation of electron Bernstein waves in a magnetized plasma column by a gyrating relativistic electron beam has been developed. The beam response is obtained using the Vlasov equation. For a one-dimensional parabolic density profile of the background plasma, the mode structure equation yields Hermite polynomial eigenfunctions. The growth of the Bernstein wave occurs via a fast cyclotron interaction. For a typical case when the electron cyclotron frequency is comparable to the electron plasma frequency and beam velocity v(b)approximate to0.8c, the growth rate is maximum for k(perpendicular to)rho(0)approximate to5. The nonlocal effects reduce the growth rate. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.