Excitation and Propagation of Whistler Waves in a Magnetoplasma Containing Density and Magnetic-field Nonuniformities

Excitation and propagation of whistler-mode waves in a magnetoplasma containing cylindrically symmetric nonuniformities of plasma density or external static magnetic field are studied. Using a rigorous solution for the total source-excited field comprising both the discrete and continuous parts of the spatial spectrum of waves, the radiation resistance of a loop antenna in the presence of such structures is determined. Conditions are found under which the radiation resistance of the loop antenna located in a weakly nonuniform plasma-density depletion or magnetic-field enhancement can be notably greater than that in a homogeneous magnetoplasma whose parameters coincide with those near the nonuniformity axis.