A nonlocal analysis of electrostatic waves in hot inhomogeneous bounded plasmas

A numerical code, seal, solving the full form of a second‐order integrodifferential equation that describes electrostatic waves in a slab plasma is presented. No expansion in the smallness of the ion Larmor radius is made. The plasma may have arbitrary density and temperature profiles and is immersed in a nonuniform magnetic field. Only small magnetic field gradients, Maxwellian equilibrium distribution functions, and k_y =0 are assumed. First the integral equation is derived in Fourier space using the linearized Vlasov and Poisson equations, and then it is transformed back into real space, which enables us to treat the case of bounded plasmas. The two boundary conditions specified simulate an antenna at one end of the plasma and wave‐reflecting walls. Solutions having wavelengths smaller than the ion Larmor radius have been found. Comparison with experiments where ion Bernstein waves are launched in argon and barium plasmas shows very good agreement with the solution of the code seal. A positive‐definite formula for the local power absorption is also derived and computed.