The Scattering of Electromagnetic Waves by Plasma Oscillations

抄録

Theory of plasma oscillation is applied to the problem of the scattering of -1000Mc waves in the E layer of the ionosphere. It is assumed that a region of the ionosphere having an irregular or turbulent character contains “oscillating domains” or “coherent units” in which free electrons perform synchronous oscillations. These domains are shown to be effective in scattering waves of frequencies ∼(c/v) ω_p, where ω_p is the plasma frequency, v the mean thermal speed of electrons, and c the velocity of light. A rough estimate indicates that the scattered wave may be observable for a proper setup in the experiment, and that its angular dependence is (sin 1/2 0)^-1, 0 being the scattering angle.