Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-collisionless-plasma-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2025/1/c/solution

A plasma wave resonance has . At finite coefficients of the magnetized cold-plasma dielectric tensor, its generic condition is the vanishing of the coefficient of :
A plasma wave cutoff has , so the constant term of the dispersion relation vanishes:
Both statements are branch conditions: check the undivided dispersion relation at special angles and simultaneous zero factors. In particular, the parallel plasma oscillation at is a longitudinal branch with arbitrary in the cold limit, while the transverse parallel branches have plasma wave cutoffs at or . Poles of the magnetized cold-plasma dielectric tensor can give additional limiting plasma wave resonances, such as the parallel cold-plasma right-handed wave at ; these are not obtained by assuming finite .

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