Nonuniform whistler mode propagation

An algorithm is developed for the computer simulation of whistler mode propagation in plasmas with a nonuniform density and external magnetic field. The time step of the algorithm is limited by the wave nonlinearities and nonuniformities in both the wave and the propagation medium. Therefore the algorithm is primarily suitable for problems involving low-amplitude waves and weak inhomogeneities. The algorithm and the effects of its numerical parameters are tested, analytically and numerically. Test particle trajectories in a whistler wave and a nonuniform external field are investigated. The algorithm is applied, and analytical consideration is given, to the following problems: the whistler beam instability, the non-linear evolution of collisionless cyclotron damping and instability, the generation of emissions by a wave packet in a uniform external field, the behavior of sidebands to a whistler mode main wave, and the possibility of a wave packet triggering emissions at a remote frequency in a nonuniform magnetic field