A spherical plasmoid with a diffuse boundary in a linearly polarized quasistatic electromagnetic field

The problem of a spherically symmetric plasmoid placed in a linearly polarized uniform quasistatic electromagnetic field is considered. The electric field in the vicinity of a plasmoid with a Gaussian electron density distribution is calculated. The results of calculations are compared with the known solution for a spherical plasmoid with a uniform density. The possibility of the transformation of an initial plasmoid that arises in an electrodeless microwave gas discharge into a microwave streamer is discussed. (C) 2001 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".