Textbook finite element methods applied to linear wave propagation problems involving conversion and absorption

A system of two second-order ordinary differential equations describing wave propagation in a hot plasma is solved numerically by the finite element method involving standard linear and cubic elements. Evanescent short-wavelength modes do not constitute a problem because of the variational nature of the method. It is straightforward to generalize the method to systems of equations with more than two equations. The performance of the method is demonstrated on known physical situations and is measured by investigating the convergence properties. Cubic elements perform much better than linear ones. In an application it is shown that global plasma oscillations might have an importance for the linear wave conversion in the ion-cyclotron range of frequency. (orig.)